A two parter - for the next part, see today's Examiner. Significant changes for certified organic livestock farmers are coming into effect in 2011.
Butcher shops or large scale processors will no longer be allowed use producer specific abattoirs, due to the volume of stock going through them.
Producer specific abattoirs/butchers are abattoirs/butchers that organic operators (businesses or farmers) use but which are not registered with an organic certification body.
However, organic farmers who use local 'unregistered' butchers and direct sell their meat will also be effected.
These local producer specific abattoirs/butchers will now have to be inspected by the organic certification body. The cost for this will be borne by the licencee, i.e. the farmer.
According to organic certification body IOFGA's Mary Lynch �it was always the case that the producer specific abattoirs/butchers could be inspected by IOFGA inspectors and that cost must be borne by the producers using the facility�.
However, IOFGA still felt it necessary to send a notification to farmers about the need for inspections of unregistered butchers.
Thus far, as well as adhering to the rules and procedures for livestock and processing in the Standards, these farmers maintained a record keeping book which was assessed as part of their inspection. They also informed the certification body of all necessary details of the animal and its processing. There were also procedures in place such as as the slaughter of certified organic animals first thing in the morning before any other animals. However there was no standardised regime of inspection of butchers not registered with an organic certification body.
According to Angela Clarke, certification manager of IOFGA:
�This should have been carried out over the past number of year(s) however it was not implemented by IOFGA. This is to ensure the integrity of the organic product. The whole process from the farmer to the end consumer must be inspected to ensure this integrity.�
She also pointed out that �DAFF (The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) are adamant that this must take place.... this issue was discussed in great detail at the Forum meetings with all certification bodies so this is not just an IOFGA decision.�
Direct selling farmers who currently work with their preferred local but unregistered butcher will have some decisions to make. They will have to either convince their butcher to accept this new regime, or they will have to change to a butcher registered with an organic certification body.
The literature recently sent to IOFGA members states that the farmer will have to carry the cost of the inspection. However according to Mary Lynch, there may be ways to minimise the costs to the farmer: �If both IOFGA and Organic Trust members are using the facility, then the premises would be inspected every second year by each OCB (organic certification body). Therefore, the cost to the producer can be reduced if they use a facility that another organic producer is also using.�
She also points out that the paperwork requirements are not onerous: �butchers/abattoirs are well used to the paper work that is involved with slaughtering livestock and the inspector will be checking existing paperwork and not asking for any new paperwork to (be) generated�.
She continues: �They are mainly checking that the animals from the producer was killed at the premises and the weight of meat processed for the organic producer, so that can be checked against the sales details of the producer�.
Beyond inspections, discussions are currently underway between the Organic Certification Bodies and the Department to establish �at what stage a producer specific abattoir/butcher should become registered in their own right. This will probably depend on the number of animals being processed by the facility or the number of producers using any one facility,� according to Mary Lynch.
�If a large number of animals are being processed by a facility, records for the organic producers should be kept and made available to the inspector and then the cost should be borne by the owners of the facility not the producer.�
Sheep and beef farmers I have spoken to, both in conversion and fully certified, have voiced concerns about this new situation. Next week, these concerns will be outlined.
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