The European Commission’s decision to grant State Aid approval of a promotional scheme to support foods covered by the Red Tractor quality assurance logo has been greeted as a significant milestone by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

State Aid approval was a prerequisite before levy funds could be used to support the Red Tractor scheme, which represents food produced to assured quality standards. State Aid rules are strict and insist that promotion of origin is secondary to quality.

AHDB 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. This means we can get down to the serious task of sorting out the details of AHDB’s financial support for Assured Food Standards (AFS); we will also work with AFS to help shape it to meet the challenges ahead.”

Colin Smith, chairman of AFS, said: “We are delighted that State Aid has been approved to fund the promotion of the Red Tractor scheme. 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 more than £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.”

National Farmers’ Union 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, which are produced to high, independently inspected standards, are able to be distinguished in the marketplace by the Red Tractor mark.”

Roberts added: “AHDB is entering its strategy and budget planning period, so decisions on sector funding contributions behind AFS can be factored into this process, along with any potential promotional use of the Red Tractor Logo in sector marketing work.”

With State Aid approval having immediate effect, AHDB sectors have the flexibility to start using the Red Tractor Logo within their existing marketing plans during this financial year.