Quality Meat Scotland has launched a campaign to encourage livestock farmers and others in the Scottish red meat industry to improve their understanding of assurance status.
Posters explaining the three key categories of assurance – Scotch Assured (SA), Farm Assured (FA) and Non-Assured (NA) – will be displayed in auction markets and abattoir lairages around the country during the coming weeks.
“Our industry’s pioneering assurance schemes underpin the Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork labels and are among the best in world,” said Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland.
“As well as farms, the assurance schemes cover the feed, auction markets, transport and processing sectors and ensure a life-long, high standard of livestock husbandry, welfare and animal health.
“It is therefore very important that those working in our industry are aware of the three key definitions and I would urge farmers and others to take time to study the posters.”
The posters clearly spell out what each of these definitions means. To be “Scotch Assured” and carry the “Scotch” brand animals must be born, reared and slaughtered in Scotland and have been QMS Farm Assured throughout their lives.
'Farm Assured' refers to animals which come from a Farm Assured holding but might not have been born in Scotland or part of an assurance scheme throughout their lives.
Finally, “Non-Assured” animals have been consigned from a holding which is neither Farm Assured nor Scotch Assured.
The posters also give information on a PGI status checker tool on the QMS website www.qmscotland.co.uk which allows people to check the assurance status of farms on-line.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
