Grain passports: what they are and how to get them right
What a grain passport is, what the AIC/TASCC combinable crops passport declares, who fills in which section, and the mistakes that get loads turned away.
· 7 min
A grain passport is the declaration that accompanies every load of combinable crops off the farm. It tells the buyer what the grain is, where it came from, what's been applied to it in store, and what the lorry carried before your wheat went in it. Most mills and merchants won't tip a load without a completed one — so it isn't optional paperwork, it's the document that gets the lorry over the pit.
The standard form is the AIC combinable crops passport, used across the TASCC assurance scheme that covers grain trading and haulage. One passport per load, completed before the lorry leaves the yard.
Why the industry runs on it
Flour, malt and feed all end up in the food chain, and the passport is how the chain stays traceable back through the merchant and haulier to a specific store on a specific farm. When a mill finds a problem in a delivery — a taint, a contaminant, a residue — the passport is the first document anyone reaches for. It's also how the buyer knows the lorry didn't carry something incompatible on its previous job.
That's why the mill's intake office treats it seriously even when the farmer filling it in at half six in the morning doesn't. From their side, an incomplete passport isn't a formality missed; it's a load they can't legally or contractually accept.
What the passport declares
The farmer's side of the form covers, in general terms:
- Crop, variety, and the year it was harvested
- The farm and store the load came from, with your assurance status and membership number
- Store treatments — grain protectants applied to the grain or the store fabric, with product details. If nothing was applied, the section is completed to say so, not left blank
- The contract or movement reference and where the load is going
The haulier's side covers the vehicle and its recent history — typically a declaration of the previous loads carried (the form specifies how many) and confirmation the trailer was cleaned as required after anything sensitive. Glass, fishmeal and similar previous cargoes are exactly what the mill is checking for.
Who fills in what
| Section | Whose job |
|---|---|
| Crop, variety, farm, store, assurance details | Farmer, before the lorry arrives |
| Store treatment declaration | Farmer — and it must match your actual treatment records |
| Contract / destination reference | Farmer, from the merchant's movement instruction |
| Vehicle, previous loads, cleaning declaration | Haulier / driver |
| Signatures | Both — an unsigned passport is an incomplete passport |
The practical arrangement that works: passports for the day's movements are filled in the evening before or first thing, so the only thing happening while the lorry loads is the driver's section and two signatures. Writing the farmer's section while the loader is running is how the wrong store reference ends up on the form.
The expensive mistakes
Passport errors are cheap to make and dear to unwind. The classics:
- A blank treatment section. Blank doesn't mean "nothing applied" — it means "unknown", and unknown is a rejection. Complete it either way, and make sure it agrees with your treatment and assurance records, because a passport declaring one thing and the store records another is an audit finding waiting to happen.
- The wrong field, store or contract reference. The load that physically left shed 2 but is documented from shed 3 has broken the traceability chain — and if shed 3 had a protectant applied and shed 2 didn't, the declaration is now wrong too.
- No signature. Thirty seconds at the yard, or a lorry parked at the mill making phone calls.
- Variety mismatches. The contract says one variety, the passport says another. Sometimes it's a pen slip; sometimes it's the wrong heap. The mill can't tell which from the intake office, so it gets treated as the wrong heap.
The cost of any of these is the same: the load can be refused at intake, and a refused load still pays the haulage. As a rough guide, haulage on a 29-tonne artic load commonly runs £150-£400 depending on distance — and a turned-away load can pay it in both directions, plus whatever the delay does to the contract. All for a form that takes five minutes.
E-passports are coming
The industry has been moving the passport from paper to electronic — e-passports are being rolled out, though the timing of full adoption keeps moving, so check where your merchant currently stands. The gain is real: pre-filled farm details, legible declarations, and a copy that exists for everyone the moment it's completed rather than a carbon sheet in a cab. The declarations themselves don't change, so nothing about getting the content right goes away — a wrong store reference is just as wrong on a screen.
Keep your copies tied to the load
A passport on its own tells you a load left. A passport filed against the weighbridge ticket for that load — with the net weight, contract reference and haulier details — is a complete story you can produce when the self-billed invoice looks wrong in February or an assessor wants to trace a movement. Keep passport copies at least as long as the rest of the transaction paperwork; six years is the safe default since they relate to a sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a grain passport?
A grain passport is the declaration that travels with each load of combinable crops leaving a farm — the AIC combinable crops passport under the TASCC scheme is the standard form. It declares the crop, its origin, any store treatments applied, the vehicle's recent loads, and assurance status, giving the buyer traceability from your store to their intake.
Who is responsible for completing a grain passport?
Both parties complete their own sections: the farmer declares the crop, origin, store treatments and assurance details, and the haulier declares the vehicle, its previous loads and cleaning. Both sign. An error in the farmer's section is the farmer's problem regardless of who was driving.
What happens if a load arrives without a completed passport?
Most mills and merchants will not tip it. The load waits while the paperwork is sorted or goes home — and either way the haulage is still payable, which can mean several hundred pounds spent delivering nothing.
Are grain passports going electronic?
Yes — e-passports are being rolled out across the industry, replacing the paper form with a digital equivalent. Timing varies by merchant and region, so check what your buyer currently uses. The declarations are the same; only the medium changes.
Do I need a passport to move grain between my own stores?
Passports accompany loads leaving the farm to a buyer or central store. Internal movements between your own sheds don't normally need one, but they should still be recorded for traceability — and movements to a central store or another holding usually do need a passport, so check with the store.
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