The industry-wide consultation for the combinable crops digital passport was successfully concluded last Friday, 2 February 2024. The three-month period of open feedback achieved its main aim: prompting wide discussion about the proposed business case, with several hundred responses received, whether from representative associations or individuals.

The process engaged with stakeholders across the supply chain, with feedback received from growers, hauliers, merchants, and processors.
 

The discussion and feedback included challenging the assumptions and figures on which the Business Case was based. The main topics of feedback centred on the usage and process of the proposed system, with a focus on connectivity and availability of devices. A range of views were also gathered on the proposed costs and benefits of the system.
 

Now that the consultation has closed, the Leadership Group will collate and analyse the feedback from all channels. There are hundreds of replies to sift through from the online portals which have been available, as well as those directly sent from businesses. 
 

Once these responses have been drawn together, the industry Development and Data groups will convene in early March. These groups will review the key points of feedback related to their sections of the business case, adding more detail, and discussing changes that are needed to be made.
 

Once this refining process is complete and the business case renewed, the Leadership Group will decide on next steps and how they wish to proceed.
 

Industry will be kept updated throughout this process, with regular communications over the coming weeks.