Quality assurance and traceability ‐ the Scottish agri‐food industry’s quest for competitve advantage

This paper summarises how the Scottish agri‐food industry has been developing farm and quality assurance activities since the early 1990s as it seeks to strengthen its competitive position. It also outlines the European system of third party certification for quality assurance schemes. The paper is an introduction to a number of “insights from industry” presented to a conference on “Food Traceability ‐ What? Why? How?” which was held in Edinburgh in February 1998.