Around 3,000 farmers who applied for the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP) have yet to apply for Bord Bia quality assurance, the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has said.
The ICMSA’s Livestock Committee chair, Des Morrison reminded those farmers of the closing date for certification under the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) next month.
One of the SCEP eligibility conditions set by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), is that participants must become a certified SBLAS member by October 16, 2023.
The ICMSA has, due to the “short timeframe”, asked the DAFM to change the conditions of the scheme to having applied for SBLAS participation as opposed to having been certified by October 16.
Commenting that the association hopes that the DAFM would take its “reasonable and sensible proposal” on board, Morrison said:
“If a farmer has applied for participation, we feel that should be sufficient to ensure that his or her application remains valid and they therefore will qualify to receive payment.”
The association’s Livestock Committee chair added that if a farmer wishes to be paid under the SCEP, it is “vital” that they have applied for participation in SBLAS as soon as possible.
SCEP eligibility conditions
Earlier this month Bord Bia said that farmers need to take the audit as soon as possible to ensure auditor availability prior to the DAFM deadline for producers to have obtained certification.
The audit verifies the standards required in SBLAS. During the audit, the auditor will inform the farmer if any area does not comply with the requirements of the standard. Any issues identified as non-conformances are explained by the auditor.
The farmer has a period of up to 28 days to provide evidence of corrective action to fix any non-conformances found and “closeout” the audit.