Is Red Tractor ‘mass balance’ legal?

[warksfarmer]

The new RT rule regarding mass balance info as seen here on RT’s website:

https://redtractorassurance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FP-Mass-Balance-Records.docx

So this means any corporate member of RT with log on details can access what a farm has produced in tonnes and where it’s been sold to.

Does this not come under General Data Protection Rules?

 

[TheTallGuy]

The new RT rule regarding mass balance info as seen here on RT’s website:

https://redtractorassurance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FP-Mass-Balance-Records.docx

So this means any corporate member of RT with log on details can access what a farm has produced in tonnes and where it’s been sold to.

Does this not come under General Data Protection Rules?

Not particularly because the information pertains to business dealings rather than "personal information".

 

[ploughman1963]

But it is commercially sensitive information that we should not be asked to share. However, if we dont, lo and behold, the vast majority of the outlets for our products are blocked to us.
If I have to sign up again this year I shall 1. confirm I keep a mass balance - which they cannot view as it is commercially sensitive information, 2. if pushed , supply wildly inaccurate figures.

 

[jonnieboy]

Answer must be yes I have one
Sorry it’s in gatekeeper and I don’t know how to report on it
Flip laptop round briefly
Job done

 

[VIP]

Can you not report any old shite

 

[Phil P]

The new RT rule regarding mass balance info as seen here on RT’s website:

https://redtractorassurance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FP-Mass-Balance-Records.docx

So this means any corporate member of RT with log on details can access what a farm has produced in tonnes and where it’s been sold to.

Does this not come under General Data Protection Rules?

You only have to show you have kept a balance sheet NOT share the data. That has already been covered on multiple threads last year. If they start requesting the data I will definitely be leaving!

Can you not report any old shite

Yes as long as it says mass balance on the top of the piece of paper you show the inspector.
Ps, you only need to show the heading not the information on the sheet.

 

[M-J-G]

Can you not report any old shite

Of course

 

[Steevo]

You only have to show you have kept a balance sheet NOT share the data. That has already been covered on multiple threads last year. If they start requesting the data I will definitely be leaving!

Yes as long as it says mass balance on the top of the piece of paper you show the inspector.
Ps, you only need to show the heading not the information on the sheet.

I think I might write mine in invisible ink because it’s commercially sensitive information.

Either that or type the figures in white font before printing.

 

[melted welly]

But it is commercially sensitive information that we should not be asked to share. However, if we dont, lo and behold, the vast majority of the outlets for our products are blocked to us.
If I have to sign up again this year I shall 1. confirm I keep a mass balance - which they cannot view as it is commercially sensitive information, 2. if pushed , supply wildly inaccurate figures.

I do this with sedex. Upload a document so the box is ticked, but the document is a word document explaining, bluntly, why I’m not providing the requested info. 3 years in and no ones read them.

 

[Old apprentice]

If you sell all at harvest does a mass balance come into it.

 

[teslacoils]

Piece of paper. Write some crap. Black marker pen. Redact it.

 

[ollie989898]

I fail to see why a mass balance should be kept, everything you sell to someone will be weighed anyway unless it is used on farm or something. Tell them to fudge off.

 

[Steevo]

Just had a thought about this - do TASCC require a mass balance for commercially run stores and/or grain traders? @Clive might know.

If they do then that "should" have been sufficient to prevent any of the black book behaviour @MrNoo experienced with his non-RT wheat magically making it into an end user with a RT sticker on.

 

[nick...]

The new RT rule regarding mass balance info as seen here on RT’s website:

https://redtractorassurance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FP-Mass-Balance-Records.docx

So this means any corporate member of RT with log on details can access what a farm has produced in tonnes and where it’s been sold to.

Does this not come under General Data Protection Rules?

I’m sure it does but they will sell the data to the trade so they can screw us too.Andrew ward was on about it on his weekly waffle last week
nick…

 

[teslacoils]

Three options are surely:

Refuse
Lie
Tell them exactly how many tins of grain you have.

Tbh, you'd have to be a total nugget to go for the third option.

 

[Hammer]

I'm fairly sure you don't have to show them any figures. We were asked during our inspection a couple of weeks ago and we just said yes we've done one. That seemed sufficient for the inspector who seemed a little embarrassed to have to ask the question in the first place.

 

[Steevo]

Three options are surely:

Refuse
Lie
Tell them exactly how many tins of grain you have.

Tbh, you'd have to be a total nugget to go for the third option.

What about if we told them in the exact number of grains? They’d struggle to prove otherwise.

 

[Kam]

Even Malwarebytes has it's suspicions about RT

 

[wanton dwarf]

I fail to see why a mass balance should be kept, everything you sell to someone will be weighed anyway unless it is used on farm or something. Tell them to fudge off.

Tried to do exactly that this year. Told RT that it was pointless, what is sold is what is grown and put on the truck. It's a complete waste of time - it has nothing to do with farming or food.

He ended up doing it himself writing any old cr@p on an A4 sheet - after agreeing it was pointless.

Why am I supposed to pay someone for them to tell me to do pointless rubbish ?

 

[ollie989898]

Tried to do exactly that this year. Told RT that it was pointless, what is sold is what is grown and put on the truck. It's a complete waste of time - it has nothing to do with farming or food.

He ended up doing it himself writing any old cr@p on an A4 sheet - after agreeing it was pointless.

Why am I supposed to pay someone for them to tell me to do pointless rubbish ?

They are probably passing the info to Deathra or the AHDB to work out how to get more levy money out of people.