At its meeting in October the EurepGAP IFA Steering Committee agreed on the following mission and objectives for IFA.

Why is Farm Assurance Important?

• It provides controlled and more efficient production of agricultural raw materials.
• It is the farmers� response to globalisation.
• It reassures and improves confidence in agricultural products.

Objectives of EurepGAP - IFA

• To facilitate mutual recognition through transparent benchmarking.
• To boost world-wide participation in farm assurance.
• To encourage continuous improvement.
• To provide performance and integrity measurement for assurance schemes (e.g. certification, accreditation).

Milestones for IFA

• Reducing duplication of audits at farm level.
• To see IFA becomes the preferred global reference standard for farm assurance schemes at pre-farm gate (agricultural production).
• To see IFA become a common buyer standard for all sources of supply irrespective of the country of origin

Independent Chairman Nigel Garbutt commented "Consumers and the industry alike are confused by the large numbers of assurance schemes out there. They are asking what standards do they operate and how do they all relate to each other".

A priority for EurepGAP - IFA over the next two years will be to concentrate on making this more understandable by encouraging the industry to work on the basis of mutual recognition and follow a path of benchmarking their standards against EurepGAP - IFA.