Industry bodies failed this week to reach agreement on the national roll out of an electronic grain passport.
The Cereals Liaison Group met in London on Tuesday to discuss the six-year project, which is being facilitated by farm levy payers’ organisation AHDB, and consider whether a nationwide roll out should go ahead based on a costed proposal supplied by AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds and a review of industry consultation responses.
The projected cost of a national roll out is £2.5m over the next five years, funded from cereal and oilseed levies and would have brought the existing grain passport system up to date.
An eGrain Passport pilot project involving the milling and malting barley supply chains was carried out by AHDB in 2015, followed by a six-month industry consultation in 2016 which was broadly well-received. AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds chair Paul Temple said he was “disappointed”.
But he added: “Although we have not got that agreement, the industry still has a valid and robust piece of research which will remain available for future use.”
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