UK Meat Inspection Practices Under Review

The British Meat Processors Association has put forward plans for an alternative approach to the delivery of official meat inspections.

The BMPA wants to see an inspection servcie based on the use of approved private sector accredited bodies to carry out inspections in consistently competent meat processing plants.

The main features of the proposal include:

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) would remain the competent authority, retaining responsibility for approval of plants, audits and enforcement
Official Veterinarians would remain under the control of the FSA
The FSA would delegate inspection tasks to approved private sector accredited bodies in consistently competent plants
The BMPA proposals come out at the same time that the Food Standards Agency has published new research into ways of improving the UK's meat inspection service.

In the research, the FSA discovered that consumers expect themselves, retailers and food outlets to monitor safety in the first instance and have little awareness of the current system of controls.

The FSA also commissioned five projects to study the risks to public heath, animal health and welfare from changing the current meat hygiene inspection requirements.

The FSA has also published an updated assessment of the impact of its proposals to increase charges for official controls on meat.

The Agency is proposing to increase the charges paid by industry for the work carried out by vets and meat inspectors in slaughterhouses, meat cutting plants and game handling establishments.

In Australia, the government has announced a new system of export certification for Australian meatworks designed to cut red tape, support regional jobs and improve Australia’s export meat industry’s competitiveness.

The new co-regulatory arrangement, the Australian Export Meat Inspection System (AEMIS), will be implemented from 1 October 2011. To support the transition to the new system the government will provide A$25.8 million over three years in support as the industry returns to full cost recovery by 2013.