What are Assurance Schemes?
Assurance Schemes are schemes which verify through regular independent inspection that farmers and growers are producing primary agricultural products according to documented foundation standards covering food safety and traceability, animal welfare and environmental protection which are based on legislation, codes of good agricultural practice and recognised good industry practice. Several of these schemes provide qualities that can help promote sustainable farming. There is no Assurance scheme for Sustainable Food other than Sustainable Marine (link to later). The closest is Sustainable Forests. (link)

Assurance schemes help establish consumer confidence in food. They can assure safety and other standards to which food has been produced and in many cases help provide traceability. Branding of assurance provides an opportunity to distinguish products in the market. Baseline or higher-level assurance schemes can help producers add value and access new markets by capturing a niche, building on a trend, or addressing customer concerns.

The Government welcomes these developments and encourages the industry to continue to build on their foundation. But assurance scheme standards must be credible and realistic, and both standards and the way they are set and monitored must be transparent. Assurance is one of the priorities for grant aid under the Government's new Agricultural Development Scheme.

"Farm assurance schemes, when supported by accurate and informative labelling, are an important way of establishing stronger relationships between farmers, retailers and consumers" CPRE

The Food Standards Agency carried out a review in 2002 of how Assurance Schemes are being run. The report recommended that people should be able to recognise "baseline" schemes and "premium" ones and the difference between them (Report pdf).

Organic
Organic farming is controlled by EC Regulation 2092/1991 (as amended). It sets out the inputs and practices which may be used in organic farming and growing, and the inspection system to ensure these. This Regulation also applies to processing, processing aids and ingredients in organic foods. The approved body in the UK for authorising organic certification bodies is the UK Register of Organic Food Standards (UKROFS) - a full list of authorised bodies in the UK, EU and EU recognised third countries.

Little Red Tractor
British Farm Standard ensures that farmers and growers produce food to meet a set of standards of good agricultural practice. (Explain more). The UK has over 75,000 farmers in this assurance scheme supplying between 65% and 90% of produce for the mai commodities. There are nine different assurance schemes, covering six sectors of production; beef and lamb, pork, poultry, dairy, vegetables, cereals and oilseeds. (See Little Red Tractor site for links to these sectors) (or should we link direct?) (List of all Assurance Schemes that can sign up for LRT..in Glossary?)

All aspects of the production process are checked, from animal movements to housing, feed, animal health and welfare, and the care for the countryside. But it is hard to know quite what is looked for. The Little Red Tractor logo does not mean that the food is made in Britain (Procurement Policy).

The Curry Commission recommended that the Red Tractor should be a baseline standard that all food should attain, and that the standards underpinning it need to be owned by the whole food chain and managed by Assured Food Standards on their behalf. The Government agrees

ACCS (Assured Combinable Crops Scheme).
Covers all crops that are combined - cereals grown for human and animal consumption. Environmental standards are above legal minimum and producers are required to restrict chemical application. Applies only to England and Wales.

APS - Assured Produce Scheme (horticulture)
Scheme covers all types of fresh produce and potatoes grown in the UK. They set standards based on integrated crop management (ICM). ICM reduces chemical use by predicting pest attackes and using a variety of biological controls.

Lion Quality Scheme (Eggs)
Scheme is UK wide and was developed to reduce salmonella in eggs. All major retailers specify Lion Eggs. Currently covers 95% free range, organic and barn eggs and 75% of cage eggs.

EUREPGAP
EUREPGAP is designed to help producers of fresh fruits and vegetables improve food quality and safety, biodiversity, and make more efficient use of natural resources, minimum use of pesticides and fertilisers and worker health and safety.

RSPCA Freedom Foods
This scheme sets standards to promote higher animal welfare in food production. It is independent of the food and livestock industry and covers on-farm production, transport and slaughter. It makes no claims for environmental standards.

LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming)
LEAF marque is designed to help farmers improve their environment and business performance and create a better public understanding of farming through a nationwide network of demonstration farms. Its standard is based on Integrated Farm
Management (IFM), which integrates beneficial natural processes into modern farming practices using advanced technology.

Barn Eggs
must come from poultry enterprises where hens are stocked at a density of no more that 9 birds per square metre. The building must have 15cm of perching for every bird.

Fair-trade Stamp
The Soil Association and the Fairtrade Foundation are offering retailers to use the Fairtrade stamp if they pay farmers enough to cover the "sustainable cost of production".