Bord Bia and the IFA have agreed to draw up a protocol covering how auditors will conduct farm visits for the new Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS). The aim is to reduce the unease some farmers have about inspection and to ensure farmers have a clear understanding of the audit.

Issues will include the auditor phoning ahead, greeting the farmer with a handshake and conducting the audit in a friendly and polite manner. The protocol will cover how a farmer should, in return, treat the auditor.

Bord Bia’s sector manager Michael Houlihan told the Irish Farmers Journal that its 100 auditors have been trained in the new technical elements in the SBLAS, including the new sustainability survey.

Almost all of its auditors are from a farming background and most are still farming, he said. Increasingly, auditors have a third-level qualification in agriculture or a related field.

A priority will be ensuring the farmer is aware of what non-compliances, if any, need to be addressed during the four-week close-out period, he said. Auditors will aim to agree with the farmer what corrective steps are necessary. The proposed steps can be recorded and will be made known to staff at the helpdesk who will be available to offer advice to the farmer during the close-out period.

In another change, where minor non-compliances are identified, the farmer can start correcting these immediately and the auditor will accept these corrections – if they can be made within the timeframe of the audit.

“There will then be no hold-up in the certification or recertification process,” Houlihan said.

Photographs will be part of the audit but they will only be taken with the farmer’s permission. They will be used to help farmers correct non-compliance issues. When a farmer corrects an issue, he or she can submit a photograph to demonstrate that corrective action has been taken.

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