Posted on June, 6, 2023 at 11:27 pm
Disagreements between merchants, hauliers and industry groups are causing major disruption to the introduction of digital grain passports – the “paperwork” used to track individual consignments of combinable crops along the supply chain.
The digital passports are intended to replace paper documents and an initial date of June 2023 was set for the scheme to start being implemented; however, its future now appears uncertain.
Farmers Weekly spoke to a range of individuals involved in the development of a digital alternative, to establish what the next steps are and what is limiting progression.
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One source involved in the project said a “last-ditch attempt” was being made to get it working, adding that there were still a fair few dissenting voices and people were jumping the gun by suggesting there had been progress.
“The project has been going on for about 10 years and it is probably no further forward than it was eight years ago,” the source said.
“We are back at the beginning and there are some fundamentals still being talked through.”
Another industry representative said there were some “pretty fundamental conversations” taking place and a few areas of conflict remained.
Outstanding issues include mobile signal coverage, use of technology, responsibility for signing off loads of grain, and access to data.
Source: Farmers Weekly