The Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops - Compliance and Best Practice

In this episode of The AIC Podcast, Gill Barrow, AIC Technical Manager, explains the importance of the ⁠Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops (TASCC)⁠ and its role in the UK agricultural supply chain.

The conversation explains:

• What TASCC is and how it supports the safe handling, storage, transport and testing of combinable crops.
• How TASCC fits between farm and end user, ensuring traceability and compliance with food and feed safety legislation.
• How the Scheme works in practice, including annual independent audits and Participant responsibilities.
• Common compliance challenges and practical tips to help businesses meet the standard.
• How TASCC supports continuous improvement and reduces risk across the grain and feed supply chain.

This episode is ideal for hauliers, merchants, storage operators, testing facilities, and businesses involved in grain, feed and wider agricultural supply chains who need clear, practical guidance on assurance, traceability and compliance.

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Transcript

Wendy Welcome to the AIC podcast,

Wendy where we share practical guidance and insight for our Members and help the industry understand how the agri- food supply chain works. I'm Wendy Ford, I'm the AIC Communications Manager, and today we'll be exploring The Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops, also well known as TASCC. I'm joined by AIC Technical Manager Gill Barrow, and she'll walk us through what Members and Participants need to know and practical steps to stay compliant. Welcome to the podcast, Gill.

Gill Thank you Wendy.

Wendy It's lovely to have you with us. So as a Technical Manager, you manage the Scheme, support Participants and work with stakeholders across the agri supply chain. With that in mind, it'd be great to hear about you and your background. How did you get into the industry?

Gill Hello, everybody. So I'm Gill Barrow. I joined AIC in June 20 20. Quite a strange time to join a business in the middle of COVID. I eventually met everybody in person. Took a while. prior to that, I'd worked in the fresh produce supply industry, so I was dealing with multiple retailers, and also dealing with different audit standards. And prior to that, I'd actually started my career in the chemical industry. So that was dealing with animal health products, detergents and disinfectants, and that was following a period of time studying agriculture at university.

Wendy Now let's start with the basics. What is TASCC and where does it play its part in the agri supply chain?

Gill So TASCC stands for the Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops, and it's split into four standards. So haulage, merchant, storage, and testing facilities. And then there is the general section, which all Participants must be compliant to. So as a scheme TASCC fits between the farmer and end users, ensuring that grain, oilseeds and pulses are treated responsibly once they've left the farm. The Scheme provides independent verification that the trade meets food and feed safety laws and is fully traceable. TASCC also has Earned Recognition with UK Government, which means that fully compliant TASCC businesses have a lower risk rating, which then results in lower level of visits from enforcement authorities.

Wendy Great. So you've outlined the purpose of TASCC. Can we unpack the detail? How does TASCC work?

Gill So it is a voluntary scheme. So Participants apply to join. And they can be certified to a single scope,

Gill so for example you might be just a haulier. Or you can be certified to multiple scopes. So you could be a storekeeper as well as a haulier. It can be a range of different combinations of scopes depending on what the business activities are. So each Participant is independently audited on an annual basis. And that's by our appointed certification body. And the audit is there to enable Participants to demonstrate their compliance to the standard. Any non-conformances that are raised must be actioned by the Participant and actions actually sent in and verified by the certification body within the agreed time scale. And this ensures that there's continuous certification.

Wendy And once those basics are in place, I guess the next important part is, you know, how do you keep the standard itself up to date?

Gill The standard itself is reviewed and written by representatives from the industry, and their expertise is imperative to ensure that the standard is fit for purpose. Each revision is also subject to a public consultation, which also enables Participants to have their input.

Wendy So, Gill, thinking about the day to day, where do you see Participants most often struggle or hit a snag or, you know, may need some assistance?

Gill So areas which are sometimes overlooked by Participants is documenting the management review or reviewing legislation every twelve months. Generally, in practice I would say it is being carried out, but evidence is needed to demonstrate that it has taken place. Signing and dating documents is key to any review process. The standard is written to help Participants demonstrate how they comply with legislation. It's also important to ensure personnel are trained and competent to carry out the tasks that they have been employed to do. If you are unsure about anything, pick up the phone or send an email. We will try and help where we can.

Wendy What kind of queries do you think Participants most often need clarification on?

Gill Often, hauliers will contact AIC or the certification body to check whether a material other than a combinable crop can be carried in a TASCC approved trailer, and whether there is a specific required cleaning routine required. Checking ensures the trailer remains compliant to the standard, and also doesn't result in a costly removal from the Scheme.

Gill It's important to stress that we have not had a serious food and feed incident involving combinable crops, which is a credit to our Participants and their due diligence in management of crops, whether they be transporting them, storing them, trading or testing them.

Wendy And what practices do you think contributes most to preventing food and feed safety incidents?

Gill Participants who demonstrate best practice are those who remain up to date with the developing standard, and routinely review their documentation, procedures and policies. So, for example, hauliers who ensure cleaning is carried out consistently and in line with the standard requirements, merchants who place food and feed onto the market, meeting customer requirements and maintaining feed and food safety demonstrated by their traceability. Storekeepers who practice good housekeeping through hygiene standards, pest management and store monitoring, and then testing facilities who achieve consistent results be that through personnel training and competency, and also their facility management systems. Ensuring there are effective systems in place, adequately resourced and in place every day means that food and feed safety is maintained throughout the supply chain, and Participants comply to the test standard.

Wendy I agree. I think the 'everyday' mindset is really important in preventing food and feed safety incidents. So, now let's look at the future of TASCC. What's in the pipeline for TASCC? What does the future development look like?

Gill So the TASCC scheme along with our other two Schemes, UFAS and FEMAS, they're currently under review. The three schemes are being reviewed at the same time, and this is primarily to ensure that we can align, where possible, common wording for the same requirements across all three Schemes. And that is particularly beneficial for Participants who are actually in multiple schemes. We do continue to develop online tools for TASCC. We also have i- Learning, which is available via the Kiwa portal, and this again helps Participants comply to the standard. And these developments will continue and are constantly ongoing as we review the standard.

Wendy So if listeners want something practical they can use today, where should they start? What kind of resources, templates, or guides would you recommend?

Gill So for TASCC, we do have a number of resources available on the TASCC web page on the AIC website. So there's a range of template documents which can be downloaded. And these are documents where we want Participants to change them, update the content, change the referencing specific to their business. Add further details. This is important because they're there as a skeleton document to steer and help Participants, but we don't want them to look the same from one business to another. We also have a range of standard appendices, and these provide supportive information. And also there's now available a non-conformance data reporting, which will be published four times a year. And again, this shows the Participants the frequency of non-conformances that are being picked up, which can again highlight areas that they as a business should focus on. And then we also have twice a year, the TASCC Force newsletter, and this provides important updates on the standard. We also have audit hints and tips and also wider industry news. So my advice would be ensure you're signed up to receive the relevant AIC briefings and the newsletter, and keep up to date with the latest TASCC information.

Wendy That's great. Thank you for sharing your expertise today with us, Gill.

Gill Thank you.

Wendy Members can find further updates, guidance and resources on the AIC website and through our member communications. Thank you for listening, and we'll be back with another episode soon. If you found this useful, please share it with a colleague and check the show notes for links and definitions. And again, thank you for joining us.

Wendy The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any organisation they represent. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Listener discretion is advised. Thank you.