Red Tractor ad banned for misleading environmental claims 3 hours ago Share Save Esme Stallard Climate and science reporter, BBC News Share Save Red Tractor The Red Tractor advert was last shown in 2023 but will now be banned for future use unless it is updated A TV advert by Red Tractor, the UK's biggest certifier of farm products on supermarket shelves, has been banned for exaggerating the scheme's environmental benefits and misleading the public. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the organisation had provided "insufficient evidence" that its farms complied with basic environmental laws to substantiate the claims in its ad. Environmental group River Action, which brought the complaint in 2023, said the ruling showed the scheme was "greenwashing" and urged supermarkets to stop using it. But Red Tractor called the watchdog's decision "fundamentally flawed" and argued that the scheme's focus was animal welfare not environmental standards. In 2021, Red Tractor aired an advert in which it said: "From field to store all our standards are met. When the Red Tractor's there, your food's farmed with care. " You can watch it below. Watch: the ad banned by the Advertising Standards Authority The environmental charity River Action took issue with the ad, which ran for a further two years, and complained to the watchdog that it suggested to consumers that Red Tractor farms will "ensure a high degree of environmental protection". The charity pointed to a report by the Environment Agency, released in 2020, which looked at how many breaches of environmental law there were on Red Tractor farms in the previous five years. The report concluded that these farms were "not currently an indicator of good environmental performance". After more than two years of investigation - one of the longest running - the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint. It said that Red Tractor had failed to provide "sufficient evidence" that its farms met "basic" environmental laws and had a good environmental outcome to substantiate the claims in the ad. It also ruled that as a result the advert was "misleading" and "exaggerated" the benefits of the scheme. River Action welcomed the decision by the ASA and called on supermarkets to act. "What this shows is that for their environmental credentials Red Tractor has been misleading the public and their suppliers," said Amy Fairman, head of campaigns at River Action. "So, we're looking for suppliers like supermarkets to really examine and take stock of what is on their shelves. " She added that challenging such adverts was important because of the risk to the environment from agricultural pollution. In 2022, the Environment Audit Committee concluded that agriculture was one of the most common factors preventing rivers from being in good health - affecting 40% of them. The risks to the environment include from slurry and pesticide runoff. BBC News/Tony Jolliffe Amy Fairman represents environmental charity River Action which campaigns for clean and healthy rivers But Red Tractor, which assures 45,000 farms in the UK, have pushed back strongly, calling the finding by the ASA "fundamentally flawed". Jim Mosley, CEO of Red Tractor, told the BBC: "They believe that we have implied an environmental claim. Nowhere in the voiceover or the imagery is any environmental claim actually made. " He argued that the ASA only found a minority of people would think the advert meant Red Tractor farms had good environmental standards, and in fact the scheme is focused on other issues. "Red Tractor's core purpose is food safety, animal welfare, and traceability. Whilst we have some environmental standards, they are a small part. And as a consequence, we leave that entirely to the Environment Agency to enforce environmental legislation," said Mr Moseley. When asked if that meant Red Tractor does not know if its farms are complying with environmental law, he said: "Correct"