The Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) has released the final two reports in its series comparing beef and lamb farmgate production standards in England with those of key international competitors around the world. The reports form part of AHDB's commitment to support industry with evidence to help shape the future direction of farm assurance.

The reports compare beef and lamb standards of the key voluntary assurance schemes in North America and South America. As with the first (Australia and New Zealand) and second (Europe) reports, they found that Red Tractor scored higher than other schemes overall, primarily because it covers a wider range of factors, and often in greater depth, than the other schemes in the studies. Red Tractor standards are also more prescriptive in nature compared to other schemes.

The independently reviewed reports focused on both the underpinning legislation and key voluntary assurance standards within each country of focus. Direct comparison of the schemes identified was not possible due to the variation of scope and sectors they covered. Therefore, Birnie Consultancy, who were commissioned to review each scheme, used 14 categories against which each scheme was scrutinised and scored, such as husbandry procedures, biosecurity and disease control, and food safety.

James Taylor, AHDB Head of Farm Assurance, said: "The publishing of the third and fourth reports completes our series of activity comparing the farmgate production standards at both a regulatory and voluntary level in England with those of key competitors around the world. They are an important part of our activity to provide supporting evidence to the commissioners of the independent review of farm assurance.

"While Red Tractor scored higher than all other farm assurance schemes overall, the focus of each scheme is slightly different and, as a result, the standards within them vary, and several schemes scored higher than Red Tractor in some of the study's categories. For instance, in South America, the Global SLP scheme is very focused on food safety and worker welfare, while the Certified Humane scheme is primarily focused on maintaining high animal welfare. All of the schemes compared in this analysis provide some degree of customer reassurance, but this varies according to the scheme and the specific category of study."

The schemes chosen for analysis in North America were:

• Animal Welfare Approved (AWA)
• Canada Verified Sheep (CVS)
• Global Animal Partnership (5 Step)
• Verified Beef Production (VBP)

Due to the scarcity of home-grown systems in South America, some of the schemes considered for the fourth report originate from other countries but are used in the region. The schemes chosen for analysis were:

• Certified Humane (CH)
• INAC Meat Cerification Programme (INAC)
• Global SLP (GSLP)

 For more information on the Beef & Lamb standards review, including copies of the reports, visit ahdb.org.uk/farm-standards-review-beef-lamb