EU paves the way for pooled levy funds to support Red Tractor

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has announced that Brussels has granted its request for state aid approval of a promotional scheme to support ‘quality foods’ covered by the Red Tractor logo.

State aid approval was a prerequisite of levy funds being used to support the Red Tractor scheme. The rules are strict on insisting that promotion of origin is secondary to quality but AHDB won approval by arguing that the Red Tractor represents food produced to assured quality standards.

With approval having immediate effect, AHDB’s sector companies – representing beef and lamb, pigs, cereals, milk, horticulture and potatoes - have the flexibility to start using the Red Tractor logo within their existing marketing plans during this financial year.

A consultation in November 2008 resulted in the majority of sectors supporting the investment of around £500,000 of levy funds per annum to help promote the logo. The Potato Council said it would not contribute.

AHDB greeted the state aid decision as a ‘significant milestone’. Its chief executive Kevin Roberts said: “This EU approval has come through sooner than expected which is tremendous news. We now have legal authority to use levy funds to promote the Red Tractor scheme.”

He said this meant AHDB and Assured Food Standards (AFS), which runs the Red Tractor Scheme, could now get down to the ‘serious task’ of sorting out the details of how levy money will be used to support the scheme.

AFS chairman Colin Smith said he was ‘delighted’ with the approval. “With minimum investment to date, the retail sales value of the Red Tractor logo has risen by 60 per cent over the last three years and now appears on over £8 billion worth of products. 

“With new funding from the AHDB, we will be able to invest further in increasing consumer awareness of Red Tractor assurance by delivering a strong message about the quality and standards of production in the agricultural and horticultural industry which the Red Tractor logo stands for.”

NFU president Peter Kendall said: “This news will enable AHDB, and some of the levy money, to fund essential promotion of the Red Tractor and with it the great, quality products from our farmers and growers.

“It is vital that our agricultural and horticultural products, that are produced to high, independently inspected standards, are able to be distinguished in the market place by the Red Tractor mark.”

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