Northern Ireland Food Chain Certification (NIFCC) has paid tribute to its retiring CEO Valerie McCann, marking 24 years of service which the organisation has said helped shape its development from the ground up.

NIFCC is a UKAS-accredited certification body established by the Northern Ireland agri-food industry as a non-profit making service provider to the industry.

The company’s remit is to provide inspection and certification across all sectors of the agri-food industry including beef, sheep, dairy and poultry as well as vertically up the supply chain from farm gate to retail shelf.

Retiring CEO

McCann, who first joined Livestock Chain Management in 1998 during the post-BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) recovery, played a central role in the creation of the Northern Ireland Food Chain Certification (NIFCC) in 2001.

Despite challenges such as the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, NIFCC said she guided the new body through its first inspections for the NI Beef and Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme and led it to quick UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accreditation.

Under her stewardship, NIFCC expanded to deliver assurance across Red Tractor Dairy, Poultry, Livestock Transport, Markets and Collection Centres, and later moved into food manufacturing auditing, enabling local delivery of BRCGS and Red Tractor processing audits.

Appointed CEO in 2021, McCann steered the organisation through post-Covid-19 recovery, strengthening financial resilience and driving the digital transformation of inspection systems, the organisation has said.

Thanking her for her dedication and long-standing service to the agri-food sector, NIFCC board chairman George Mullan said: "Known to us all for her dedication and work ethic, Valerie leaves NIFCC in a strong, stable and future-focused position - the lasting legacy of the vision she helped to deliver.

"The board and staff express our profound gratitude for her tireless service.”