Digital passports group to ask Defra for £3.7m grant
© Tim Scrivener The Digital Passport Leadership Group is scheduled to meet with Defra farming minister Daniel Zeichner later this month to discuss potential government funding to cover the implementation costs of digital grain passports.
A revised business case has been published by the group, which includes a proposed one-off seed-funding of £3.7m from Defra to cover the initial build, support and staff costs for the first three years of the project.
The current proposal suggests that, if the funding is awarded and the project moves forward, then the running costs from year four onwards, estimated at £355,000 each year, will be funded through the AHDB cereals and oilseeds levy.
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A further £1.3m in funding is due to be sourced from industry.
The group – which includes representatives from the AHDB, the Agricultural Industries Confederation, the NFU, the Maltsters’ Association of Great Britain, and UK Flour Millers – says digital grain passports will strengthen food and feed safety and enable a two-way data exchange.
It states that it has “reshaped the description” of the choice facing industry, and says: “It is not a question of paper versus digital passports, it is whether one digital passport is preferable to several different digital passports.”
Costings
Cost-benefit analysis over the first 10 years of the project suggest a return of £1.33 for each £1 spent by industry and AHDB.
The group has calculated digital passports to equate to 50p/passport or 1.72p/tonne, based on a 29t load.
It estimates there will be industry savings from passport and sticker printing, storing of passports by merchants, and haulier time efficiencies, which could save £652,000 each year – equal to 3.18p/tonne.
The industry group has forecast that growers collectively will save £187,000 a year in passport printing and distribution costs compared with the current paper system.
Implementation
A 27-month timeline has been put forward from the proposal being approved to proceed to the end of the traditional paper grain passports.
Digital passports are expected to be ready for beta testing just nine months after being given the green light to proceed, with a phased industry rollout due to begin at the end of the first year.
Revisions
One of the major changes to the latest business case is the obligation for industry to provide real-time feedback of weight and quality data to growers.
The NFU says this will boost operational efficiencies on farm and create greater transparency between farmers and merchants.
New measures have also been introduced to ensure the grain can still be picked up in areas where there is no internet access available.
The Seed Crushers & Oil Processors Association (Scopa) is no longer directly involved in discussions on digital passports, and as a result, deliveries into Scopa crushing plants will not require a digital passport.