Continued focus on food safety, food law enforcement, animal welfare and efficiency are among the performance targets set for meat processors in the year ahead by the Meat Hygiene Service in the UK.

The high-level strategic targets were agreed by the FSA Board at its meeting last month, following public consultation.

A number of targets have been rolled forward from 2002/03 to enable year-on-year comparison.

Two new targets focus on enforcement of animal by-products legislation, and an IT strategy for plant-based staff.

For the first time, the targets are explicitly linked to relevant FSA strategic objectives, as published in the FSA Strategic Plan 2001-2006, 'Putting consumers first' .

MHS performance against its targets will be assessed through independent audit by the FSA and MHS activity reports, as specified in the assessment criteria.

Performance will be reported regularly throughout the year. The final assessment, after the year end, will be published on the FSA website .

The FSA reported that there continues to be zero tolerance of critical failures - those which cause immediate, serious risk to public health, require immediate corrective action by the MHS, or, in the context of animal welfare, permit an animal to sustain avoidable excitement, pain or suffering.

The FSA Board has agreed that for 2004/05 and beyond, a new approach to target setting and assessment should be developed, based on intended outcomes rather than processes, and assessed through a combination of external audit and MHS management procedures.

This approach is intended to build on positive development and improvement, acknowledge MHS successes as well as failures, and present an even fuller picture of MHS activity.

Copies of consultation responses may be seen at the Dr Elsie Widdowson Library at the FSA headquarters in London. For further information contact library&info@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk .