SQC Chairman also Chairman of SAOS consultants employed by AHDB to review imported cereal assurance

[Anonymous...]

I watch the whole assurance reviews with interest, and we've been told those doing the reviews are "independent".

Hold on to your hats. I've done a bit of digging and got something to tell you....

Linked to the assurance reviews are the reviews commission by AHDB. Two reviews...

1. Comparison of Red Tractor vs competitor overseas assurance schemes for meat products.
2. Review of imported cereals standards.

The consultants who are doing the imported grain assurance report for AHDB are called SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society). They have a main Board and also a number of other people on their Council.

Turns out there's a cross over of people in SAOS and SQC (Scottish Quality Crops). They're on both boards.

John Hutcheson is Chairman of SAOS and Chairman of SQC.

Teresa Dougall is Managing Director of SQC and on the SAOS Council.

(J Hutchinson and T Dougall are two of the four people who make up the SQC Management Executive)

Murray Forsyth is a director of SQC and also appears to be from SAOS.

Scottish Quality Cereals

www.sqcrops.co.uk

SAOS | Board & Council Members

saos.coop

Do we think this imported cereals review is thoroughly independent?

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

@Grass And Grain

 

[Clive]

great research

Call me suspicious, but I wonder if RT/SQC have devised a strategy to infiltrate and control the report ? @Abi Kay ?

all rather “coincidental” isn’t it

 

[yellowbelly]

I watch the whole assurance reviews with interest, and we've been told those doing the reviews are "independent".

Hold on to your hats. I've done a bit of digging and got something to tell you....

Linked to the assurance reviews are the reviews commission by AHDB. Two reviews...

1. Comparison of Red Tractor vs competitor overseas assurance schemes for meat products.
2. Review of imported cereals standards.

The consultants who are doing the imported grain assurance report for AHDB are called SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society). They have a main Board and also a number of other people on their Council.

Turns out there's a cross over of people in SAOS and SQC (Scottish Quality Crops). They're on both boards.

John Hutcheson is Chairman of SAOS and Chairman of SQC.

Teresa Dougall is Managing Director of SQC and on the SAOS Council.

(J Hutchinson and T Dougall are two of the four people who make up the SQC Management Executive)

Murray Forsyth is a director of SQC and also appears to be from SAOS.

Scottish Quality Cereals

www.sqcrops.co.uk

SAOS | Board & Council Members

saos.coop

Do we think this imported cereals review is thoroughly independent?

Good work @Anonymous...

Why am I not surprised

 

[Clive]

@Levy Believer ? are the crops board aware of this conflict of interest?

 

[slackjawedyokel]

@Levy Believer ? are the crops board aware of this conflict of interest?

@Levy Believer just pops in sporadically- will contact him on Twi’ar.

 

[Farma Parma]

None of this will come too much surprise too us all
Odly enough iam busy updating my load of tosh paperwork & the usual made up waffle also for RT Audit later this wk.
it all makes your skin crawl 2/3 of this crap we have too deal with too sell grain.

 

[Farma Parma]

I watch the whole assurance reviews with interest, and we've been told those doing the reviews are "independent".

Hold on to your hats. I've done a bit of digging and got something to tell you....

Linked to the assurance reviews are the reviews commission by AHDB. Two reviews...

1. Comparison of Red Tractor vs competitor overseas assurance schemes for meat products.
2. Review of imported cereals standards.

The consultants who are doing the imported grain assurance report for AHDB are called SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society). They have a main Board and also a number of other people on their Council.

Turns out there's a cross over of people in SAOS and SQC (Scottish Quality Crops). They're on both boards.

John Hutcheson is Chairman of SAOS and Chairman of SQC.

Teresa Dougall is Managing Director of SQC and on the SAOS Council.

(J Hutchinson and T Dougall are two of the four people who make up the SQC Management Executive)

Murray Forsyth is a director of SQC and also appears to be from SAOS.

Scottish Quality Cereals

www.sqcrops.co.uk

SAOS | Board & Council Members

saos.coop

Do we think this imported cereals review is thoroughly independent?

Not in a million years is it the cartel is fully at work as usual

 

[Big Blue Yonder]

I watch the whole assurance reviews with interest, and we've been told those doing the reviews are "independent".

Hold on to your hats. I've done a bit of digging and got something to tell you....

Linked to the assurance reviews are the reviews commission by AHDB. Two reviews...

1. Comparison of Red Tractor vs competitor overseas assurance schemes for meat products.
2. Review of imported cereals standards.

The consultants who are doing the imported grain assurance report for AHDB are called SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society). They have a main Board and also a number of other people on their Council.

Turns out there's a cross over of people in SAOS and SQC (Scottish Quality Crops). They're on both boards.

John Hutcheson is Chairman of SAOS and Chairman of SQC.

Teresa Dougall is Managing Director of SQC and on the SAOS Council.

(J Hutchinson and T Dougall are two of the four people who make up the SQC Management Executive)

Murray Forsyth is a director of SQC and also appears to be from SAOS.

Scottish Quality Cereals

www.sqcrops.co.uk

SAOS | Board & Council Members

saos.coop

Do we think this imported cereals review is thoroughly independent?

SAOS also owns FIA (farm integrity assurance) who are the certification body that carries out SQC and QMS work in Scotland

 

[SilliamWhale]

I watch the whole assurance reviews with interest, and we've been told those doing the reviews are "independent".

Hold on to your hats. I've done a bit of digging and got something to tell you....

Linked to the assurance reviews are the reviews commission by AHDB. Two reviews...

1. Comparison of Red Tractor vs competitor overseas assurance schemes for meat products.
2. Review of imported cereals standards.

The consultants who are doing the imported grain assurance report for AHDB are called SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society). They have a main Board and also a number of other people on their Council.

Turns out there's a cross over of people in SAOS and SQC (Scottish Quality Crops). They're on both boards.

John Hutcheson is Chairman of SAOS and Chairman of SQC.

Teresa Dougall is Managing Director of SQC and on the SAOS Council.

(J Hutchinson and T Dougall are two of the four people who make up the SQC Management Executive)

Murray Forsyth is a director of SQC and also appears to be from SAOS.

Scottish Quality Cereals

www.sqcrops.co.uk

SAOS | Board & Council Members

saos.coop

Do we think this imported cereals review is thoroughly independent?

What about the review David Llewellyn is doing? He will surely have been informed about this conflict of interest or be aware of it?

 

[Clive]

What about the review David Llewellyn is doing? He will surely have been informed about this conflict of interest or be aware of it?

i tagged him in a twitter post that links to this thread and i believe im going to be meeting / speaking with him soon when i get back to the uk

i will make sure he is aware

 

[Grass And Grain]

@Grass And Grain

Thanks for the tag carbon fibre.

Looks like it gets worse:-

SAOS also owns FIA (farm integrity assurance) who are the certification body that carries out SQC and QMS work in Scotland

I spoke with SAOS last week. Got the opportunity to make any suggestions I thought they might have not thought about. Really nice approachable person, hada good chat about it, made a few suggestions which I don't think they'd thought of, etc.

I didn't know they were the certificate body for SQC. So if these reviews meant farmers didn't need SQC/RT membership then SAOS would shoot themselves in the foot and potentially lose their auditing business. Cripes!

I can see how you might not pick up on fact the SAOS Chairman is also the SQC Chairman (and from the OP seems to be the SQC Management Executive), but surely you'd have picked up on SAOS being the SQC Certification Body.

Looks like too much of a conflict of interest doesn't it?

Not sure what they're going to do now. Presumably AHDB have given SAOS the contract and SAOS will be expecting £40k (or whatever the fee is), so they're going to struggle to go back and appoint another consultant.

Presumably the SAOS Chairman will have known they were tendering for the AHDB job. It takes a bit of believing that SAOS have taken on the work.

One thing for certain, if the report says "we can't use a similar assurance/gatekeeper system as imports, then we're not really going to believe the independence.

They've got themselves into a right hole here haven't they.

 

[Clive]

what a mess !

can no one just play with straight bat in uk ag !

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

This is both unbelievable and totally predictable at the same time.

Is this an independent review or an internal investigation?

No doubt we'll see another set of questions to generate the right answers.

And another £40 odd k of levy money going to the people who rip off farmers. Who sanctioned this work? It's verging on the criminal.

 

[Anonymous...]

great research

Call me suspicious, but I wonder if RT/SQC have devised a strategy to infiltrate and control the report ? @Abi Kay ?

all rather “coincidental” isn’t it

I'm beginning to think we can't trust the assurance review AT ALL.

Wonder if RT/SQC did know about this? Well SQC must have known because it's the same Chair and SQC MD is on the SAOS Council.

What about the review David Llewellyn is doing? He will surely have been informed about this conflict of interest or be aware of it?

Took less than 1 minute on Google to find out, and then I didn't spot SAOS are also the certificate body for SQC.

Thanks for the tag carbon fibre.

Looks like it gets worse:-


I spoke with SAOS last week. Got the opportunity to make any suggestions I thought they might have not thought about. Really nice approachable person, hada good chat about it, made a few suggestions which I don't think they'd thought of, etc.

I didn't know they were the certificate body for SQC. So if these reviews meant farmers didn't need SQC/RT membership then SAOS would shoot themselves in the foot and potentially lose their auditing business. Cripes!

I can see how you might not pick up on fact the SAOS Chairman is also the SQC Chairman (and from the OP seems to be the SQC Management Executive), but surely you'd have picked up on SAOS being the SQC Certification Body.

Looks like too much of a conflict of interest doesn't it?

Not sure what they're going to do now. Presumably AHDB have given SAOS the contract and SAOS will be expecting £40k (or whatever the fee is), so they're going to struggle to go back and appoint another consultant.

Presumably the SAOS Chairman will have known they were tendering for the AHDB job. It takes a bit of believing that SAOS have taken on the work.

One thing for certain, if the report says "we can't use a similar assurance/gatekeeper system as imports, then we're not really going to believe the independence.

They've got themselves into a right hole here haven't they.

Surely AHDB must have known the association. It looks very dodgy. Very dodgy.

BFU is best £10 I've ever spent. Keep up the good work everyone.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

@Grass And Grain, is this the inquiry into quality standards for imported grain that you got AHDB to do?

If it is did they tell you who was doing the investigating and whether they would be independent?

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

BFU is best £10 I've ever spent. Keep up the good work everyone.

Welcome to the club. Hope it pays off

 

[warksfarmer]

I watch the whole assurance reviews with interest, and we've been told those doing the reviews are "independent".

Hold on to your hats. I've done a bit of digging and got something to tell you....

Linked to the assurance reviews are the reviews commission by AHDB. Two reviews...

1. Comparison of Red Tractor vs competitor overseas assurance schemes for meat products.
2. Review of imported cereals standards.

The consultants who are doing the imported grain assurance report for AHDB are called SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society). They have a main Board and also a number of other people on their Council.

Turns out there's a cross over of people in SAOS and SQC (Scottish Quality Crops). They're on both boards.

John Hutcheson is Chairman of SAOS and Chairman of SQC.

Teresa Dougall is Managing Director of SQC and on the SAOS Council.

(J Hutchinson and T Dougall are two of the four people who make up the SQC Management Executive)

Murray Forsyth is a director of SQC and also appears to be from SAOS.

Scottish Quality Cereals

www.sqcrops.co.uk

SAOS | Board & Council Members

saos.coop

Do we think this imported cereals review is thoroughly independent?

Anybody really surprised in this?

They are ALL corrupt to the core. All of them ……. NFU, RT, AHDB, AIC, BRC etc

FOI emails obtained from the AHDB proved this 2 years ago, yet they all carry on treating uk farmers as idiots.

See attached below. Why are they all even talking to each other. They are supposed to be independent and act individually. They have never been given the remit to collude behind the scenes against their respective members or levy payers.

Its time for a cereals vote to get rid of the AHDB to start with. Then the NFU next.

 

[teslacoils]

Glad I diversified into production and retail of white-wash.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Anybody really surprised in this?

They are ALL corrupt to the core. All of them ……. NFU, RT, AHDB, AIC, BRC etc

FOI emails obtained from the AHDB proved this 2 years ago, yet they all carry on treating uk farmers as idiots.

See attached below. Why are they all even talking to each other. They are supposed to be independent and act individually. They have never been given the remit to collude behind the scenes against their respective members or levy payers.

Its time for a cereals vote to get rid of the AHDB to start with. Then the NFU next.

Still don't know why AIC were part of that email. They aren't on any RT governance board