Meat enforcement regimes go head-to-head

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has commissioned a three-year project to assess the relative effectiveness of two meat enforcement regimes, namely “inspection and supervision” versus “verification and audit.” 

ADAS and the Meat and Livestock Commission are carrying out the project, and as Mervyn Davies of ADAS explained, the introduction of new EU food hygiene legislation on 1 January 2006 has provided an ideal opportunity to compare the two meat enforcement regimes.

Comparisons will be made from the viewpoint of compliance with legislation, resource use and cost benefits.

The researchers will identify 10 case studies to emphasise the impact of the new regulations on meat establishment procedures and outcomes.

This will help to inform FSA on future policy with regard to meat enforcement and on how processes and procedures can be improved or streamlined.

The project will cover the periods for the two years immediately before the introduction of the new EU Food Hygiene Regulations (2004 and 2005), and for the three years after their introduction (2006-2008).
 
Various surveys will be carried out.  The first is being conducted now and will obtain historic information on the time resources used to comply with the “inspection and supervision” regulations that operated up to December 2005.

A number of organisations are involved, including the British Poultry Council and the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers. 

For further information contact Mervyn Davies, mervyn.davies@adas.co.uk