Farming industry demands end to FSA monopoly of meat inspection

Concerned leaders from the farming industry have condemned the Food Standards Agencys (FSA) plans to force the meat sector to pay all the costs of official inspections in meat plants, in a letter published today (23 May) by The Times.

Eight signatories from organisations including the CLA, NFU and National Federation of Meat and Food Traders say that passing the cost of inspections onto the meat sector will cost the industry up to 25million. The letter says this will lead to the competitiveness, sustainability and viability of British livestock farming being put at risk.

The organisations believe that charging the full cost of inspections should be revisited once they are risk-based and affordable and that currently they are neither and would lead to the closure of large and small abattoirs.

The letter states: The FSA proposal is ill-considered and will cause irreparable damage to the meat and livestock industry and consequently to the food economy, employment, consumer choice, future food security, landscape and the environment.

The letter demands that full cost recovery is not imposed until the FSAs own meat inspection system is radically overhauled so it is effective, efficient and affordable across the whole abattoir sector.

The organisations involved say they welcome the proposals in the Farming Regulation Task Forces report into better regulation for farming and food businesses to end the FSA monopoly of inspection.