The AIC is the UK agrisupply industry’s leading trade association, representing several sectors including animal feed, crop protection and agronomy, fertilizers, grain and oilseed and seed.
The new Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops (TASCC) standard is due to be introduced on February 1, 2021.
The current TASCC 2018 standard has been thoroughly reviewed over the past year by the TASCC review and working groups, with the aim of clarifying, simplifying and re-emphasizing the TASCC principles of food and feed safety, said the trade group.
Key changes proposed include an increased focus on food and feed, the splitting of clauses into manageable requirements for ease of compliance and auditing, clearly defined section aims, and additional guidance throughout the codes of practice, it added.
The new standard will be accompanied by updated appendices and templates on the AIC website.
The consultation period will run until close on business on Wednesday September 9, said the trade group. Details can be reviewed here.
TASCC was developed because farmers and end users wanted to be sure that grain and oilseed crops along with pulses were treated responsibly once they left the farm. The assurance scheme covers trading, testing, transport and storage of crops and other feed materials.
The scheme is audited and certified by an independent certification body, in accordance with the internationally recognized standard, EN45011, and it dovetails with feed compounding scheme, UFAS, and with the UK livestock assurance - Red Tractor - schemes, which the major UK supermarkets make a requirement for in relation to the home-produced livestock products they buy.
The AIC manages the following schemes in the UK:
Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops (TASCC), Feed Materials Assurance Scheme (FEMAS), Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS) Feed Adviser Register (FAR) AIC Services Palm Oil Credit Scheme (APOCS), Forage Assurance Scheme (FAS) and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) as well as crop protection related schemes.