Assured Food Standards (AFS) is the independent organisation set up to manage, develop and promote the Red Tractor as a mark of safe, quality, affordable food that the public can trust.
AFS is owned by all the links in the chain that produces our food, from farmers to retailers. This means that its ownership is shared by organisations such as the National Farmers' Union (England and Wales), the Ulster Farmers' Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Dairy UK and the British Retail Consortium. The Food and Drink Federation also provides valued input.
All these organisations have a say in the running of AFS through their various representatives on the board, bringing a wide range of interests and expertise to the table. But AFS is set up as an independent non-profit organisation to ensure that it can operate objectively in the interest of the consumer, without undue influence from any single organisation or link in the chain.
At AFS we set the assurance standards that apply to various product sectors and to different links in the food supply chain. We actively manage the certification bodies that police those standards. And at the point of packaging, we define the usage conditions for the Red Tractor logo. This means we license the processors and packers who display it on their packs, and ultimately ensure that the Red Tractor is only seen on food that is worthy of it and properly authorised to carry it.
We are committed to working with the entire supply chain to harmonise and strengthen Red Tractor standards under a single mark. To this end, AFS represents a broad spectrum of individual assurance schemes. Some are wholly owned subsidiaries of AFS, while others enjoy separate yet equivalent status. Click on the links below to learn more about these schemes.
AFS schemes
Other schemes
The AFS Board
Assured Food Standards is run by an independent Chairman and a Board of Directors representing the six main product sectors and other important links in the food supply chain. The Board includes prominent academics and professionals representing consumers, veterinary science, animal welfare, trading standards and the environment.
Read about members of the Board and AFS office holders