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The Food Standards Agency last week published a Board paper that updates its proposals for charging the meat industry the full cost of delivering official controls in meat plants.

The key changes are: the proposal to support more small businesses with a low throughput by expanding the number of meat plants in this category; and to begin a phased implementation of full cost recovery in April 2012.

The consultation on these proposals began in November 2010, when the FSA consulted widely to gather views from stakeholders. Since then, the FSA has reviewed all the responses, and is continuing to gather views to present to the FSA Board via a series of public meetings in England next week, and discussion at Food Advisory Committee open meetings in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The latest paper published today reflects how the proposals have been amended following this process, and sets out the points the FSA Board will be asked to discuss at the open Board meeting on 25 May.

The main change from the original proposals is the option for a considerable increase in the number of small businesses with a low throughput that could receive a reduction in charges. This reflects industry concerns on the impact for this type of meat plant. The paper proposes that the threshold for determining which businesses fall into the ‘low throughput’ category should be expanded. Meat plants falling into this category could pay reduced charges in a tiered system, depending on the volume of livestock units or meat they process.

The Board has been presented with the following three options to consider in terms of the definition of 'low throughput':

• Option 1: Businesses would be considered 'low throughput' if they do not exceed 1,000 livestock units (the number of animals in a unit depends on the animal), or equivalent, a year. They would receive a maximum reduction of 70% of the full cost charge. This would provide support from the FSA of £1.4 million for around 420 establishments. This was the proposal presented in the original consultation.
• Option 2: Businesses processing up to 2,000 livestock units would be 'low throughput'. There would be two levels of reduction, 70% or 50% depending on throughput levels. This option would provide £2.1 million of support for around 520 establishments.
• Option 3: Businesses processing up to 5,000 livestock units, with three levels of reduction depending on throughput levels: 70%, 50% or 25%. This would provide support of £2.6 million for around 570 establishments. This is the option recommended by the FSA Executive.

In addition to deciding on the definition of low throughput, the Board have been asked for their views on the proposal to introduce full cost recovery over a three-year period, beginning in April 2012 (the original proposal suggested January 2012).

The paper reinforces the commitment of the FSA to reducing the cost of delivering meat official controls from £55.5m to £50m by the end of 2014/15.

Following the decisions made at the Board meeting, it is expected that relevant Ministers in all four countries of the UK will be advised of these new arrangements.

The full paper can be viewed at the link below.