Feed safety can often be taken as a given but having robust, diligent standards and audits are critical at ensuring feed, and hence food, safety for the UK feed industry.
Managing Director, AIC Services
Key facts
One of its founding objectives was to bring about a step change in the control of animal feed to ensure higher levels of food safety in the supply chain. To achieve this, AIC manage a range of market leading standards including the Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS).
-
95%
UK and Ireland’s
compound feed is UFAS certified
-
£80
billion
turnover of the UK’s agri-supply industry
-
21
million
tonnes of animal feed produced in the UK annually
Client Challenge
AIC’s UFAS standard is vital for maintaining the integrity and safety of the supply chain by certifying the production and trade of animal feed. First developed in 1998, the scheme has been designed to lead and react to industry trends and ensure participants always follow best practice and meet the highest standards.
Successful participants not only gain the confidence of buyers and consumers, they can also benefit from fewer visits from Local Authorities and Trading Standards. This arrangement is through “earned recognition” and is a unique agreement to the AIC feed assurance schemes.
However, AIC recognises that to maintain their own industry leading position and grow and strengthen the scheme both in the UK and elsewhere, they require better visibility of audit data and a more rigorous operational approach to scheme management from the certification provider.
How we helped
LRQA was appointed as the exclusive provider of AIC’s UFAS audits in 2017. Through our longstanding work across the food sector, we understand the
customer’s need for a robust UFAS audit programme underpinned by technology solutions which provide greater transparency of performance and compliance at the scheme’s 1000 sites.
LRQA's technology allows AIC head office users to enjoy a real-time overview of scheme performance at site level, with compliance trends easy to identify, monitor and review. Additionally, through the development of a dedicated customer portal, UFAS participants will be able to submit corrective action swiftly and effectively reducing the audit burden and helping them meet compliance levels more rapidly.
LRQA also provide a customer-focused team of operational and technical experts to assist both AIC staff and UFAS participants with their queries and issues, ensuring that people who really understand the industry are always available to help where required.
LRQA recognise the importance of animal feed to the supply chain. We’re committed to helping AIC ensure that UFAS integrity is upheld through robust auditing and surveillance.
Head of Agriculture and Food Manufacturing, LRQA
The impact
Through working in partnership with LRQA for the delivery of their UFAS audits, AIC’s team are better able to focus on how best to strengthen and improve their scheme so that it continues to bring benefits and value to participants.
Additionally, through LRQA and AIC’s cultural alignment and commitment to ensuring food safety across the supply chain, buyers and consumers can have greater confidence about the integrity and quality of the animal feed sector and the vital role it plays in ensuring we all have access to safe food.
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