Red Tractor is consulting on proposed changes to its poultry assurance standards, with a focus on simplifying requirements, reflecting modern production systems and placing greater emphasis on outcomes rather than paperwork.
The six-week consultation opens on 10 November and runs until 22 December, forming part of the final phase of the organisation’s review across its six sectors. Consultations for beef, lamb and dairy launched in September.
Poultry sector chair Nick Major said the review aimed to make assurance more practical and proportionate while maintaining the scheme’s robustness.
More than 30 hours of meetings have been held with the poultry Technical Advisory Committee, alongside two extraordinary sector board meetings.
Proposals include bringing the separate chicken, duck and turkey standards into one document, making automated nest boxes mandatory and modernising packing standards. New requirements would also strengthen traceability through the supply chain and require producers to record the final destination of poultry litter and manure.
A key focus is moving towards more outcome-based assessments, with less emphasis on paperwork and greater attention to what happens on farm.
“We want businesses to have more flexibility to demonstrate compliance and delivery around outcomes, rather than purely relying on the fact that they’ve got the lever arch file there,” said Major.
Other proposed changes include introducing water quality standards, making flock health plans more active management tools and strengthening contingency planning for avian influenza, heat and cold stress.
The overall number of poultry standards and audit points will remain broadly unchanged, with some removed and others added.
Major emphasised that the proposals were not final decisions and urged the industry to respond.
“We genuinely want to hear what people think, and we’re fully prepared to make changes if needed,” he said.
The consultation covers farming standards, with proposed changes to catching and transport standards to follow separately.