This Assurance Section provides information on the
Northern Ireland Beef & Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (NIFQAS) and
the other associated schemes that are in place to provide assurance for
the whole beef and sheepmeat supply chain, and thus qualify Northern
Ireland's beef and sheepmeat products to be eligible to carry the NIFQAS
description and logo and the Red Tractor logo.
The Northern Ireland Beef & Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (NIFQAS)
is owned by the Livestock & Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC)
on behalf of the Northern Ireland Beef and Sheep Industry. The LMC Board
invites nominations from the main industry representative bodies and
from them appoints a NIFQAS Industry Board to administer the Scheme.
The NIFQAS Industry Board appoints a sub-committee - the Standard
Setting Committee (SSC) - to review and update the Product Standard as
appropriate.
The NIFQAS Industry Board also arranges the contract with an accredited
Product Certification Body (CB) for the provision of farmer
registration, farm inspection and approved farmer certification
services. The CB must be accredited to the European Procedures Standard
EN45011 by the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS). The current
provider of these services is Northern Ireland Food Chain Certification
(NIFCC). Click here to access the NIFCC website
The Northern Ireland Beef & Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (NIFQAS)
is a scheme in which farmers participate voluntarily in order to provide
assurances to their customers about the quality of their farms and their
production methods. |
