Plans to implement global Integrated Farm Assurance standards for meat products to promote safe and sustainable agriculture are moving into their final phase.

This follows a stimulating international conference on quality assurance in the livestock and combinable crops sector organised by EurepGAP, a global partnership of retailers, processors and producers, in the Netherlands last week.

EurepGAP will roll out its global IFA programme for meat and cereal production early next year.

The IFA aims to harmonise and simplify the diverse range of current schemes in a host of different countries to provide all producers and buyers with acceptable reference standards for safe and sustainable food production.

Delegates at the conference at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam on November 9 and 10 included farm leaders and representatives from major retailers and processors in Europe, Africa and the Americas. After much discussion and lively debate, they agreed that:

• Harmonisation is necessary to increase food safety and reduce costs

• National schemes are the backbone of vertically integrated quality assurance systems and should be benchmarked to meet EurepGAP standards

• The needs of smaller farmers must be considered

• Global standards would open up markets for farmers and allow retailers to source with confidence

• Harmonisation should include standards for feed and medication, as well as transport and encourage food safety standards to be continuously reviewed.

One of the speakers at the conference, Dr Uwe Tillman, chief executive of Bestmeat in The Netherlands, called for a long-term partnership between farmers, retailers and the food service sector to help consolidate quality programmes.

Another speaker, Gerard Doornbos, president of the LTO in The Netherlands, praised EurepGAP for creating an important bridge between the farmer and the retail trade. He also urged retailers to harmonise their certification requirements worldwide and comply with EurepGAP. They should also devote more attention to the connection between the various links in livestock production.

Meanwhile, Chris Anstey, from the UK supermarket giant Tesco, pointed out that retailers needed to know that consistent standards were being set and met – and EurepGAP provided an effective means to do just that.

Summing up afterwards, EurepGAP chairman Nigel Garbutt said: “This conference has provided us with clear signals direct from the market place and about the way forward. Our Steering Committee will consider all the recommendations we have received here at its next meeting on November 25. Then the Technical Standards Committee will meet in January to finalise the standards before their publication in February 2005.

“It’s a major step forward in our journey to make a difference to agriculture and the world we live in with the publication of transparent standards for global production of crops and livestock.”