Supermarket giant Tesco has dropped its long-standing assurance that its poultry meat and eggs do not come from birds fed on genetically modified feed.
The retailer ended its 11 year ethical commitment, claiming that due to modern methods and increased production of GM soya in the world's major grain exporting nations it can no longer vouch for its poultry feed. The commitment originally applied to Tesco's own-brand products.
The announcement comes just one month after the retailer published poetically worded full-page apologies in major newspapers and pledged to improve its traceability, source more of its meat products from within the UK, treat its farmers more fairly and simplify its supply chains.
A grains industry roundtable is pushing the idea of a voluntary code of conduct for farmers in order to send a message to government about the production sector’s commitment to best practice.
Heading the Grain Stewardship Taskforce is Andrew Weidemann, Grain Producers Australia chairman. Mr Weidemann says the development of a code of conduct will be critical if the industry wants to remain free of further legislative restrictions, particularly in the field of chemical use.
“This is something we are doing to try and be proactive and set some guidelines for ourselves, rather than have them set for us,” he said.
He added that the stewardship initiative was about utilising the proven track record the grains sector already had for best management practices and creating a set standard that could be tangibly demonstrated across the board.
Initially, the stewardship program will focus on chemical management and on-farm storage and handling, which also has a strong chemical focus with the use of fumigants.
The expansion, representing the single largest investment at the port for more than twenty years, will increase the storage capacity of the grain export facility, which has been running at capacity for several years, by as much as 82 percent to 178,000 tonnes.
“We are very pleased to move forward with this project as we see it as key to meeting growing demand from global markets,” said Darwin Sobkow, executive vice-president, Agribusiness Operations.
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| A grains industry roundtable is pushing the idea of a voluntary code of conduct for farmers |
