Campaigners asked for inspection reports on organic salmon farms in Scotland. It led to an appeal which could limit the public right to access environmental information.
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Concern over bid to exempt organic food certification from public scrutiny
Campaigners asked for inspection reports on organic salmon farms in Scotland. It led to an appeal which could limit the public right to access environmental information.
The UK’s leading organic verification company is trying to dodge freedom of information law, in a case which could have important implications for transparency.
The case was prompted by a campaign group asking to see inspection reports of organic salmon farms in Scotland. Following a hearing into the certification company’s appeal in November 2025, the information rights tribunal is expected to issue a verdict in the next few weeks.
Campaigners criticised the company’s bid to evade its information responsibilities, arguing that the public had a right to understand organic standards. They warned that its appeal could endanger scrutiny of other public services outsourced to the private sector.
Soil Association Certification insisted that it fully supported transparency, and said it had never sought to keep information secret. But it argued that it should be exempt from environmental information regulations because it was up to the UK Government to decide what should, or should not, be made public.
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The certification company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the organic charity, the Soil Association, and describes itself as a “not for profit company”. It is contracted by the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to check whether land farms and fish farms produce food that can be labelled as organic. The company also certifies whether forestry, fashion, textiles and beauty products are organic.
By offering organic certification, the company aims to provide a guarantee that food and other products are produced with “the highest possible standards of animal welfare, environmental and wildlife protection”. Products with organic labels often sell at a higher price.
There are currently 21 salmon farms and hatcheries in Scotland licensed as organic. The campaign group, WildFish, is lobbying with other groups for them to lose the organic label, alleging that they cause pollution and are bad for animal welfare.
In May 2024 WildFish asked Soil Association Certification for copies of inspection reports of organic salmon farms from the previous three years, as well as details of any breaches of organic standards.
The request was refused by the company, which argued it was not covered by the environmental information regulations. It passed the request on to Defra, which provided some summary statistical information.
Dissatisfied, WildFish appealed to the UK Information Commissioner. In a decision in February 2025, the commissioner ruled that Soil Association Certification was covered by the environmental regulations, and ordered it to consider WildFish’s request.
Access to nutritious food is a human right so the important information requested is a matter of public interest
The company then appealed the commissioner’s decision to the UK information rights tribunal, insisting that it should not be covered by the environmental information rules. It argued that it was contractually obliged to provide information to Defra, which was covered by the rules.
The commissioner disagreed, arguing the company’s appeal was “badly misconceived”. The company was “specifically entrusted” by Defra to certify products as organic and had “special powers” to do so, the commissioner’s lawyers said.
But Soil Association Certification said that the commissioner had made an “error”. The company did not possess sufficient “special powers” to be covered by the environmental information regulations, it argued.
The Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland backed the commissioner’s decision. It maintained that the company’s organic certification was a “public function” that would otherwise be undertaken by Defra.
“This appeal raises the prospect that individual private companies may argue against their designation under environmental information regulations which will disrupt the scrutiny of key outsourced public services,” said the campaign’s director, Carole Ewart.
“As the state increasingly outsources public administrative services to private contractors, access to information rights and compliance with duties must apply equally to deliver transparency and accountability.”
Ewart urged the UK and Scottish governments to make clear to private contractors that they have duties under environmental information regulations when they deliver public services. “Access to nutritious food is a human right so the important information requested is a matter of public interest,” she added.
We have never sought to withhold information. It is the right reporting channels for the information, not the reporting of the information itself, that is in question and that we seek to ensure is clearly set out.
WildFish said there had been “a lack of transparency” because the salmon farm inspection reports it requested more than 18 months ago had not been released.
“Transparency is a cornerstone of environmental governance, and WildFish – like many organisations working in the public interest – depends on access to such information in order to scrutinise environmental performance and hold corporate activity to account,” the group’s director in Scotland, Nick Underdown, told The Ferret.
“As a matter of legal principle, we regard it as important that environmental information should be accessible from the body that is legally obliged to hold and disclose it in the first place.”
Soil Association Certification stressed that trust was central to its purpose to safeguard nature, climate and health. "As an organisation we believe that transparency is at the heart of building trust with consumers and therefore fully support the sharing of information, in line with the regulations,” said chief executive, Dominic Robinson.
“We have never sought to withhold information. It is the right reporting channels for the information, not the reporting of the information itself, that is in question and that we seek to ensure is clearly set out.”
Robinson said his company engaged with Defra in 2025 on environmental information requests, including sharing inspection reports. “Our position remains that we are contracted to provide the information to Defra and they determine the appropriate release of information,” he added.
“It is the role of Defra to make decisions on what is appropriate to release, and we are already obliged to provide them with whatever information is required to meet the requirements of the environmental information regulations. Consumers can trust that the Soil Association organic symbol represents salmon farmed at the highest standards.”
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Rob has more than 40 years’ experience specialising in reporting on environmental issues. He has co-authored three books about nuclear power, produced radio and television programmes. He likes muckraking.
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