3. We'll then send you a category specific initial assessment applicant form to complete
4. The initial assessment will be booked and carried out by an independent consultant contracted to the SPCA who has been extensively trained to our SPCA Blue Tick® standards. The initial assessment will be at your cost, an hourly recharge of our consultant fees (including any disbursements such as meal and travel costs)
5. The consultant will provide guidance on meeting our SPCA Blue Tick® standards and answer any questions you have. If there are any CARs (Corrective Action Requirements) captured during the initial assessment, you'll need to correct these by adjusting some of your farming practices to
meet our SPCA Blue Tick® standards. Once the CARs are corrected and close, you will be issued a SPCA Blue Tick® 'Certificate of Approval' for
your farm, confirming you successfully meet our SPCA Blue Tick® standards
6. Once the SPCA Blue Tick® 'Certificate of Approval' is issued, your farm will be added to the Licensing Agreement we have with your Distributor to officialise you as a SPCA Blue Tick® approved farmer. This in return means that you will have to abide to the terms and conditions of the legal Licensing Distributor Agreement in force
7. If you happen to be a layer hen farmer acting as a distributor at the same time, you will pay royalties to the SPCA Blue Tick®, an approach that would be welcomed by consumers to lower costs in the supply chain. The other product categories (chicken and pork), the distributors/consumer brands that buy SPCA Blue Tick® approved produce from you will pay the royalties directly to the SPCA Blue Tick® accreditation
8. Should you decide to leave the SPCA Blue Tick® accreditation, you and your distributor won't be able to make claims such as 'farming to SPCA Blue Tick® standards'. Since you are no longer in the accreditation, such claims won't be able to be backed by our proof. This is on the basis that the SPCA Blue Tick® standards can only be met after confirmation by the Royal New Zealand SPCA employee or an third party auditor contracted by Royal New Zealand SPCA who has been trained to our SPCA Blue Tick® standards