On-farm audits return

Following the Government’s announcement on Friday, January 22nd that most of the public health measures in place can be removed, Bord Bia has returned to on-farm auditing.

Bord Bia audits under the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS) and the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) will take place on-farm. In person, on-farm audits are an integral and necessary component of the audit process and are essential to maintain the schemes' international accreditation.

Fully remote audits will only be possible under exceptional circumstances.

Auditors must follow Bord Bia’s Covid-19 Auditor Guidance document, which provides guidelines on hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, and physical distancing.

Please contact the Bord Bia Helpdesk if you have queries about an upcoming audit. 01 5240410.

Blended audits

Bord Bia is aiming to reduce the time spent on-farm during the audit, through a new ‘blended audit’.  The system is being currently being developed.

The blended audit will consist of a pre-audit phone call, pre-audit documentation upload, and a reduced farm walk maintaining full social distancing. 

The blended audit will use the same portal developed for the fully remote audit, which most members will be familiar with.

Any interaction between the farmer and the auditor during the farm walk will be socially distanced, and will take place outside with no transfer of documents.  The focus of the farm walk will be to observe conformance with the Standard requirements relating mainly to facilities, animal husbandry and animal health and welfare. This will last approximately 30 minutes.