WIREDGOV

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has begun a consultation on proposals to reduce the frequency of hygiene inspections on dairy farms in England and Wales. The proposals could result in an annual saving of £1.2m for taxpayers and more than £130,000 for farmers.

The proposal

The Agency is proposing that, from April 2011, the official hygiene inspection regime would initially classify all dairy farms at the same level of risk, meaning they would only be inspected once every two years. Dairy farms that are members of the Assured Dairy Farms scheme are regularly audited and as a result would only have a routine official hygiene inspection once every 10 years. Where farms are found not to be complying with the law they will receive additional follow-up inspections.

This will reduce hygiene inspections from around 11,335 a year across England and Wales to 2,890, with around 1,164 of those inspections from follow-up enforcement action and intelligence-led inspections.

Andrew Rhodes, FSA Director of Operations, said: ‘These proposed changes are good news for both consumers and the dairy industry. Our resources will focus on farms identified as higher risk and this will enable us to target enforcement action where it is needed.

‘We want enforcement that is focused on driving up standards across the industry and which is flexible enough to adapt to future priorities without compromising consumer safety.’

The proposed official controls scheme will rely more on visits already being carried out on farms in the Assured Dairy Farms scheme, which produce 95% of raw cows’ milk in the UK.

The risk-based approach to inspections will involve sample results from industry, notification of new farms, information from Assured Dairy Farms audits and other regulators, complaints and outbreak information.

Further information

This proposal meets the requirements of European and UK legislation and is consistent with enforcement practices in other member states. It also contributes to wider Government initiatives of reducing the burden on business and targeting enforcement activity on the basis of risk.

It is proposed changes in Scotland will not occur until the Food Law Code of Practice is reviewed in 2012. A similar consultation is being launched by the FSA in Northern Ireland.

The proposals to reduce the frequency of hygiene inspections do not apply to farms that produce raw drinking milk, the intention is that these will be inspected on a six-monthly basis.

Views welcome

The FSA is keen to hear views on the proposals from all sectors of the industry and other organisations. Responses to the consultation can be submitted via the link to the consultation below. The closing date is Monday 14 March 2011.