Abattoir staff bullied Government BSE vets


22 September 1998


Abattoir staff ‘bullied Government BSE vets’


ABATTOIR staff bullied junior Government vets into ignoring beef that was possibly infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), according to Andrew Fleetwood, a former Ministry of Agriculture civil servant.

He said in a statement to the BSE inquiry that abattoirs knew in advance when random inspections were planned. He alleged that slaughterhouses flouted rules for more than five years after controls were introduced.

Mr Fleetwood now works in the pharmaceutical industry. He said his experience as a vet in general practice and other services had led to a “natural suspicion about the extent to which slaughterhouses might be complying”.

Vets were responsible for the surveillance of standards in abattoirs, although actual checks on beef destined for the food chain were done by meat inspectors employed by local councils until March 1995, and later by the national Meat Hygiene Service.

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