Meat processing sector faces pressure

Published on Friday 19 September 2008 21:40

FARMERS and consumers have been subject to a huge range of food scares ever since that fateful day on 20 March 1996 when Stephen Dorrell, the then Conservative government minister, suggested in the House of Commons that there was the possibility of a link between BSE in cattle and variant CJD in the human population: the jury is still out.

In subsequent years the farming industry appeared to be doing more than its fair share in guaranteeing consumers that every morsel of food was safe, and more. The overlord has been the Food Standards Agency (FSA), a statutory body largely dependent on its funding through levies from the processing sector.

What was initially a decent working relationship has now become decidedly fractious, with abattoir operators claiming that a proposed hike of 18 per cent on inspection charges could put some plants out of business.

But the FSA, and its ancillary the Meat Hygiene Service, is claiming something close to force majeure, chiefly relating to the adverse rate of sterling against the euro.

The bottom line is that the UK must fall in line with the minimum rates of meat inspection legislation as set out by the European Commission. Consultation with the industry is suggested, but Tim Smith, the chief executive of the FSA, indicated that there is little room for manoeuvre.

He said: "There is an established system of ensuring that charging across Europe does not fall below the minimum rates."

That comment cut no ice with Allan Jess, the president of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers. He said: "This latest proposed increase on charges would amount to an 18 per cent rise in the cost of slaughtering adult cattle, equivalent to an extra 50p per animal.

"Clearly, the processing sector cannot afford such an increase at a time when margins are already virtually non-existent."