QMS appoint SAOS to conduct Quality Assurance inspections

Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) has appointed the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) as the Certification Body (CB) to carry out assessment and certification services for all of the QMS whole of life, whole of production supply chain Assurance Schemes.

Covering cattle and sheep, pigs, livestock haulage, auction markets & collection centres, processors and feeds, SAOS will be responsible for the assessments through to the provision of certificates for the schemes.

Alan Clarke, QMS Chief Executive, says that the transition will take place over the coming months with SAOS formally taking on the contract from 1 April 2022.

“Scotland was the pioneer of red meat Quality Assurance and our schemes offer consumers in the UK and overseas the legal guarantee that the meat they buy has come from animals that have spent their whole lives being raised to some of the world’s strictest welfare standards.

“The transition will take place over the coming months and all information will be transferred to our new provider.  Members will be kept up to date at every stage of the process and we look forward to working closely with SAOS to ensure the move is as smooth as possible.”

Established in 1990, the Scottish red meat industry’s Quality Assurance Scheme is the longest established scheme, of its kind, in the world.

The scheme aims to provide industry and consumers with total assurance that animals, produced for the food chain, are reared to a stringent set of standards covering all aspects of animal welfare, food safety, traceability and the environment. Currently, just under 10,000 farms in Scotland operate under the scheme.

Tim Bailey, SAOS Chief Executive, says:

“Since being established in 1905, SAOS has continually evolved over the years to meet the changing needs of our co-op members, as well as the wider farming and food sector. Having recognised the vital need to add more value to our primary products and to identify and access new markets at home and abroad, we have created our Food Integrity Assurance business to support, develop and build on Scotland’s key credentials of truly sustainable food production that is climate-friendly and supportive of our unique rural environment.

“We are looking forward to working closely with QMS and the red meat supply chain to ensure requirements for whole chain assurance are met to underpin the integrity of the premium Scotch and Specially Selected brands.”

For all membership related enquiries, please contact QMS direct via info@qmscotland.co.uk