Call for improved collaboration

The future strength and profitability of red meat production and processing in Scotland will depend on securing improved collaboration between industry, government and regulators says Alan Brown, President of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW).

“We have all the core ingredients in place to produce, process and market red meat successfully to both domestic and international customers,” he said, speaking ahead of SAMW’s annual conference on Friday, September 6. “What we need now, however, to help move the sector forward, is an increased appreciation of the commercial realities of our industry by both the Scottish and UK Governments.

“Scotland’s meat plant operators also need a similar practical understanding of the costs and operational needs by our regulator Food Standards Scotland (FSS), who play a major role in overseeing the country’s abattoirs and processing units.

“Focusing first on government issues, unnecessary trade barriers with our EU customers continue to hamper the majority of SAMW members, adding substantially to export procedures and costs. These need to be reduced. We also require a sound and settled skilled worker visa system, equipped to provide our industry with essential staff, rather than the shortages we’ve encountered in recent years.

“These vital concerns will be debated during our conference, with Scotland’s Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie, in attendance and due to address delegates. It’s worth adding that SAMW member companies generate a combined turnover of £1 billion and employ over 3,000 people, contributing massively to the Scottish economy.”

Switching to the Association’s recent discussions with FSS and the Scottish Government over a major increase in Official Veterinarian and Meat Hygiene Inspection charges, Mr Brown paid tribute to a £500,000 contribution in recognition of the issues being faced by Scotland’s processing industry, albeit that it only covers the extra costs that arose from government policies that increased charge rates.

“We appreciate the way in which the Scottish Government engaged with us on this issue once the consequences of policy decisions were known, although we would obviously rather have avoided the cost rises that created the need for such action,” he said. “As a follow-on, we are engaging with FSS to explore options to make their charging system work more fairly in the future. This needs to be an examination of options that are commercially based, not a ‘moving of the deck chairs’ process, designed to tick a few boxes.  Future charging will undoubtedly be raised during the conference, especially as Ian McWatt, FSS Deputy Chief Executive, has agreed to be one of our speakers on Sept. 6.

“Sarah Millar, Chief Executive of Quality Meat Scotland, will also address delegates, focusing on the organisation’s 5-year strategy and what has been delivered during its first 12 months.”