Meat hygiene controls guide issued, current system faces shake up

The food safety watchdog said the guide is for all other food business operators (FBOs) of approved meat premises in Britain and comes into effect from Monday 28 March.

The document gives s a full outline of how the body calculates tariffs for its services and has been sent to FBOs of slaughterhouses and meat cutting plants.

The guide covers why charges are made for the FSA inspections and what is included in the controls. It also tells FBOs how they can reduce their charges, the frequency they can expect to receive bills and how they can challenge their charges.

To read the full guide click HERE​

Charging shake up?​

However, the charging regime is under review and could be shaken up as the agency has said it would like to recover the full cost of the service from industry players.

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) told FoodProductionDaily.com it fully understood the rationale behind the move in the current economic climate but that the FSA was a high cost monopoly public service.

Full cost recovery should not be imposed on the industry until the agency had managed further cuts in its operational and overhead costs, which include liabilities that should not be borne by industry players, it added.

The trade association called for UK authorities to consider outsourcing the inspection work to the private sector in a bid to reduce costs to industry.

A report on the matter is due to come before the FSA board by the middle of 2011.