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Inspection Interval

NIFCC carry out routine surveillance and spot check inspections to ensure that Approved Producers continue to meet the Product Standard.  Both surveillance and spot checks will involve a full inspection against the requirements of the Product Standard.  Routine surveillance inspections will take place at approximately 18 month intervals.  This inspection interval ensures that the farm is inspected during different seasons in the year. Spot checks are carried out at random on 10% of approved members during the calendar year.

Inspection Scope

During the farm inspection, the inspector will ask to see a representative sample of livestock.  If the application is for both beef and lamb certification then the inspector must see both during the inspection. 

Inspection Format

The inspector will check the seven areas of the FQAS Standard during the farm inspection, as shown below. An inspection will normally take between 1½ and 2½ hours depending on the size of farm.

1. Husbandry: Stockmanship and Welfare
2. Animal Health
3. Animal Nutrition
4. Animal Traceability - Identification, Sourcing and Records
5. Housing and Handling
6. Transport
7. Environmental Care