Remote Farm Assurance Assessment
At this time more than any, it is important to ensure that people have access to safe and responsibly sourced food, by protecting the integrity of the food chain and British agricultural standards. In order to do this, inspections must continue to take place despite the greatest health crisis that our country has seen in a generation.
We have had several clients who have contacted us about remote farm assurance inspections that they have recently had to complete, and feedback has been mixed.
Red Tractor is the largest food and farming assurance scheme, covering 75% of British agriculture and they are carrying out remote assessments where compliance with standards can be checked and verified without an assessor visiting the site. A remote assessment may include a combination of:
- Uploading documents
- Photos
- Live streaming
- Telephone interviews
Remote assessments are currently being rolled out to ensure the protocol is properly tested, it is likely remote assessments will then be compulsory for members. If your routine assessment is due or already overdue you will be contacted by the assigned assessor from your certification body to arrange a day to complete the assessment remotely.
If you don’t agree to the remote assessment or if you are not good with technology and mobile phone signal/broadband is unreliable then discussions with an assessor will determine possible solutions and if no route can be found then a follow up call will take place with the certification body to discuss how to proceed.
If a remote assessment takes place and you are found to be compliant then there won’t be a requirement for a physical inspection when they resume.
If you are not yet a member of the Red Tractor scheme, you can apply to during lockdown by completing the application process in the normal way. As a new member, you will be required to have a remote assessment which your chosen certification body will try to prioritise.
The Red Tractor Online Portal www.portal.redtractor.org.uk is an online filing cabinet, where you can upload, and store documents required to demonstrate compliance to the Red Tractor standards. It is the easiest, most secure and confidential way for you to upload and review documents relating to your assessment and has been designed for all Red Tractor farm scheme members to use.
Red Tractor has been developing the portal for some time, it was scheduled for launch later this year. The Covid-19 situation has led to an acceleration of the roll out of the portal given that it is very useful in the remote assessment scenario. The intention is that the portal will remain available and will be developed further to increase functionality. When physical assessments resume, the portal can be used to minimise the time spent reviewing paperwork on the farm during an assessment.
To discuss, please contact Guy Banham on 01536 532379 email guy.banham@berrys.uk.com.