The Egg Corp Assured (ECA) Progam has been developed to assist commercial egg producers implement sound quality assurance practices on their farm. ECA covers on farm practices relating to pullet rearing, egg production and grading/packing.
If you would like to be Egg Corp Assured, make sure you get a copy of the ECA manual, which you can purchase online ($60 for AECL members). You can use this to help you ensure your farm practices comply with QA and regulatory guidelines.
To become Egg Corp Assured, Schedule 4 2009 - ECA application form
Business Guideline
Each business will receive a certificate of licence and Quality Assurance Trade Mark which will contain a unique ID number, traceable by AECL.
The accreditation fees vary according to the size of your business and the pricing structure is available here. The business must be audited every 12 months to retain accreditation.
How does a farmer go about complying with the ECA Program?
Farms with an existing third-party audited QA program will be able to have their program desk-audited against the ECA Program. If the desk audit demonstrates that their existing program complies with the ECA Program then they can continue to use and be audited against their own program, with compliance against their program also enabling accreditation to the ECA Program and the use of the Trade Mark on their products. Examples of Trade Mark usage include, egg cartons, tray labels, outer cartons, eggs, product packaging and marketing material. Copies of the Trademark Usage Manual are downloadable here.
For farms that don't have an existing program that complies with the ECA Program, the ECA Manual (available from AECL) provides all the documentation required to develop a farm QA Program that will comply with Egg Corp Assured.
If you wish to undertake an ECA training program please contact AECL on 02 9409 6999.