T. 07768 654955 E. scott.walker@scconsultancy.uk
An all-industry meeting, designed to ‘agree the way forward for the setting up of a Scottish Meat Inspection System’ is due to be held before the Scottish elections take place on May 5.
Delegates attending the annual SAMW conference in Glasgow on Saturday, April 16, were told of the meeting plan during the opening address by Association president, Alan Craig.
“We obviously must have unity of purpose across our industry as we move forward,” he said, adding that responses to date had been ‘seriously encouraging’.
“There is, in fact, already sufficient evidence of agreement and support to indicate that a Scottish Meat Inspection development roadmap can be placed on the new Minister’s desk at the Scottish Government within weeks, if not days, of the new administration taking office. That, certainly, is our objective.”
Earlier, when commenting on the conference theme of ‘Changing Times’, the president told delegates that, when circumstances demanded, SAMW was in the business of driving change and making things happen.
“We don’t believe in mending things which aren’t broken,” he said. “We do, however, believe that if something isn’t working then it needs to be fixed.
Then, in a direct comment on the new meat inspection plan,. He added: “This is especially the case when dealing with something which has arguably never performed to its potential and sadly, shows no sign of correcting itself.
Progressive & proactive
“This is the reason why SAMW, in partnership with NFU Scotland, and in harmony with other industry bodies, is currently asking the country’s political leaders to explore the case for Scotland to have its own Meat Inspection System. We believe this is a progressive and proactive move on behalf of the whole Scottish meat and livestock chain. We also believe the time has come to break the mould, as it applies to UK meat inspection. This is an area of our industry which has been lacking in success in recent years as regards matters of efficiency, partnership working and cost.
“Through the freedom of information process, we have recently learned what we believe to be the current costs of providing the service to the Scottish red meat Industry. The £6.5 million or £100,000 per annum per full-time equivalent has come as both a shock and disappointment to our members. Bearing in mind this is a not-for-profit organisation with no sales team, no factories, no packaging, no cold storage and no fleet of delivery vehicles. It is in essence, a service based SME providing a crucial food safety service for the industry and the public. We’re not convinced, however, it merits a United States Air force style of budget to deliver that service.”
Highlighting the fact that SAMW member businesses had a combined turnover of around £1 billion and provided direct employment for 3500 people, Mr Craig continued; “The meat business in Scotland is an industry to be proud of, an industry which is vital to the domestic economy and an industry of proven quality and global recognition. At present, however, it’s also an industry which is also under pressure and in need of fresh, effective and efficient solutions. To realise our current potential, and hopefully unlock future growth and development, we need the right structures, the right systems and the right people working for us and with us. Not against us.
Good sense solution
“This is why we opted to pursue the model of a separate Scottish Meat Inspection System. It’s a solution which we believe could help ease some of the pressures on our industry rather than add to them. It’s a solution which could include practical input from industry in meat inspection rather than exclude those who actually depend on product safety and purity for their livelihood. It’s a solution which, frankly, makes sense.
“We’re seriously encouraged by the many positive responses which this proposal has received and by the widespread debate which has begun. I can therefore announce this morning that between now and the Scottish elections on May 5 a meeting of all relevant bodies will be held to agree the way forward for the setting up of a Scottish Meat Inspection System. We obviously must have unity of purpose across our industry as we move forward. There is already sufficient evidence of agreement and support to indicate that a Scottish Meat Inspection development roadmap can be placed on the new Minister’s desk within weeks, if not days, of the new administration taking office.”
Conference videos are in production and will be posted later this month
Outline proposals for the setting up of a separate meat inspection system for Scotland have been prepared jointly by the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) and NFU Scotland.
A paper detailing plans for a ‘Meat Inspection System fit for a modern Scotland’ has been sent to the four mainline political parties contesting the Scottish elections. The document carries the stark warning that the current UK-based service disadvantages Scotland and presents a serious threat to the future viability of the Scottish meat and livestock sector.
“The cost of inspection per livestock unit in Scotland is believed to be less than half the current UK cost as charged by the Food Standards Agency (FSA),” said Alan Craig, president of SAMW. “Under the present structure, therefore, Scotland is being significantly disadvantaged by having to pay a UK average figure influenced by both plant demographics and potentially less efficient delivery of controls in England and Wales. We believe a Scottish solution, still managed locally by FSA, would be more efficient and cost-effective and would provide a valuable opportunity to secure and enhance public confidence in quality Scotch meat.
“It is also illogical for an industry paying millions of pounds, for a monopoly service, to have no formal input in the strategy or delivery of that service. Any new system, therefore, should give industry a contribution in the direction of the inspection service. We believe this would encourage a healthy working partnership, better placed to deliver positive outcomes for the consumer and the industry.”
NFU Scotland president, Nigel Miller, said: “In recent years Scottish stakeholders have put considerable time and effort into proposals that would have rationalised the delivery of the meat inspection service at a UK level. That work has been frustrating and arduous and has largely delivered little of the real change needed to what is a burdensome and outdated system.
“The recent decision to devolve animal health budgets to Scotland creates the opportunity to also allow Scotland to take control of its own meat inspection arrangements. By utilising the FSA in Scotland, we can develop a tailor-made service that better recognises the specialised processing sector we have in Scotland and delivers efficiency through best practice that will benefit the whole meat chain and build on the Scottish brand.”
While designed as the launching point of a discussion process with Scotland’s political leaders and all relevant industry bodies, the paper contains a firm commitment to the fundamental need for meat inspection to continue to ensure the delivery of safe food to consumers. It’s stated, in fact, that the new service must be ‘underpinned by science’ and be ‘risk-based, relevant and proportionate’. The paper also contains the statement that any new system should recognise standards of performance by Food Business Operators (FBOs) and that it should both reward and penalise FBOs accordingly.
“In issuing this paper at this stage we accept that decisions cannot be taken before the Scottish elections are completed,” said Mr Craig. “While the industry’s meat inspection concerns need to be addressed urgently, the timing of this paper provides an ideal opportunity for all political parties to be involved in the discussion process. This can only be of benefit to the shaping of a final solution which meets the needs of Scottish producers, meat businesses and consumers in more effective and efficient manner than is currently the case.”
Full text of joint letter follows below.
This paper considers the alternative provision of meat inspection in Scotland to replace the current UK system provided by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on a UK wide basis. Our initiative has the potential to capture and enhance public confidence in our world class Scotch meat.
Background
The FSA’s basic principle to underpin official controls on meat was stated as “to make decisions and take action proportionate to the risk, and with due regard to costs and benefits”. The widespread view is that it has failed to deliver a service which is proportionate, risk based, properly resourced and efficient. The FSA’s proposed imposition of full cost recovery is a watershed for the current system. The industry, in calling for reform, is very clear that it is legally responsible for delivering safe food for the consumer and any replacement of the current system must equally ensure that the consumer is protected.
Context
The Cabinet Secretary, Richard Lochhead MSP, in his address to the NFU Scotland conference on 15 February 2011, captured the mood and aspirations of the Scottish industry when he said:
“…… the meat sector is rightly concerned about the cost of meat hygiene inspections. No one would suggest cutting corners when it comes to protecting the public. However, the inspections should only cover what’s scientifically justified, and they must be delivered efficiently, at a fair cost. Some are saying that now is the time to consider a Scottish solution, and I can see their point.”
The meat and livestock industries are keen to take up this challenge and work with the Scottish Government and the FSA in Scotland to achieve a new model for Scotland.
Principles of an alternative system
Any new system should be based on the following:
A Scottish Meat Inspection Service
The current UK service disadvantages Scotland. The inspection cost per livestock unit in Scotland is believed to be less than half of the current UK cost as charged by the FSA. The size and geographical distribution of meat plants in Scotland makes the FSA’s provision of the service here more economical. Scotland, therefore, is significantly disadvantaged by having to pay a UK figure influenced by less efficient delivery of controls in England and Wales.
It is illogical for an industry paying millions of pounds for a monopoly service to have no formal voice in the strategy or delivery of that service. Any new system should give industry a say in the running and direction of the inspection service. This would encourage the partnership working which would deliver better outcomes for the consumer and the industry.
Conclusion
Now is the time to review the relevance of the current system to present day circumstances and to make vital changes.
The current system is a serious threat to the Scottish meat and livestock sector, one of Scotland’s flagship industries, as well as to the wider rural economy. Changing it will raise several issues, both short and long term, but these can be addressed once a decision to develop an alternative system has been made. Ultimately this initiative has the potential to secure the long term future of Scotland’s quality meat sector and we would welcome support in achieving this.
| Nigel Miller, President, NFU Scotland |
Alan Craig, President, SAMW
SAMW has written to Chris Hitchen, Director of Finance at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to highlight the fact that sterling/euro exchange rate changes have give FSA a £5m gain. The Association is seeking assurance that this ‘gain’ will be reflected in future FSA charges and that 2011/12 charges will revert to 2008/9 levels.
The full text of the letter is as follows:
Dear Chris
MEAT INSPECTION CHARGES 2011/12
I am writing on behalf of members of this Association to seek clarification of the FSA’s letter to abattoirs about charges for 2011/12, discounts and the revised Charges Guide.
Paragraph 42 of the Charges Guide states that the discount is set so that the monthly charges for official controls will, assuming all factors are unchanged, be the same as in 2008/09, subject to compliance with EU minima. The FSA’s letter undertakes to maintain charges for 2011/12 at 2010/11 levels, but the latter was more than 10% above the 2008/09 level (amounting to a £5 million gain for the FSA) due to currency exchange fluctuation resulting from the Pound’s weakness against the Euro. As the pound is now considerably stronger we would expect charges to be less in 2011/12 than FSA is proposing; in terms of paragraph 42 these should revert to 2008/09 levels. We are not aware of any consultation or Ministerial edict to the contrary. I would welcome your explanation.
Yours sincerely
IAN ANDERSON
Executive Manager
The Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) has reacted sharply
to the revelation that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has a pension
deficit of £103 million which it is planning to recoup from industry
over the next 20 years.
The extent of the FSA’s pension deficit was revealed during an industry
stakeholders meeting in York this week.
”After years of striving to establish details of the overheads which
are included in the FSA’s meat inspection charges, light has finally
been shed on this issue,” said Ian Anderson, SAMW Executive Manager,
who attended the meeting. ”It was also revealed that the pension
deficit element in the FSA’s proposed charges for 2011/12 is £4.7m. In
addition, however, it’s still not clear what the FSA’s current pension
contribution costs are or how the FSA intends to manage its future
pension liability.
”Even without this information, the figures we already have are
staggering and there is no rationale whatsoever for imposing this cost
on the meat processing industry. This is precisely why the FSA’s ‘Full
Cost Recovery’ policy is totally flawed and extremely ill-timed and why
the FSA Board should reject it out of hand when it meets to consider
the policy on May 24.”
Mr Anderson added that he believed the Scottish operation of FSA was,
however, the most efficient and cost-effective in the UK and would, as
such, be likely to carry a lower proportion of the pension liability
than the rest of the UK.
”This fact adds strength to the case for Scotland having its own meat
inspection service, devoid of the national UK inefficiencies which the
Scottish processing sector is being lumbered with under the existing
system,” he said.
The conference theme of ‘Changing Times’ reflects the current uncertainties, threats and challenges to the meat industry and what the industry can do in response.
Top quality speakers will address the big issues of the day, including CAP reform and livestock supply, how the Scottish red meat industry is positioned to move forward, TSE controls and modern meat inspection, future European developments and much more.
Date/venue: Saturday, 16 April 2011 / Marriott Hotel, Glasgow
Speakers:
* Alyn Smith, MEP (Member of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee)
* Jim McLaren, the new Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland
* Professor Patrick Wall (Professor of Public Health at University College Dublin)
* Jean-Luc Meriaux (Secretary General of UECBV).
Times:
9.45 – coffee
10.15 – Conference opening by SAMW president, Alan Craig
13.00 – Lunch
Afternoon – free
19.00 – Pre-dinner reception
19.30 – Dinner, followed by a charity auction, after dinner speaker and dancing to a live band.
Contact the Executive Manager for booking form.
The Food Standards Agency’s consultation on moving meat inspection charges onto a ‘full cost recovery’ basis fails completely to address the key issues of the Agency’s delivery of the necessary controls and the inefficiency and profligacy that goes with them.
That’s the headline view voiced by the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW) in a four-page consultation response, submitted to FSA this week.
Signed by SAMW Executive Manger, Ian Anderson, the response also states that the current controls are neither ‘risk-based nor proportionate’ and are ‘grossly over-expensive’.
The Association makes it absolutely clear that its members are 100% committed to delivering safe food to consumers and that Food Business Operators (FBOs) accept all the standards and regulations connected with such a commitment. SAMW also says it has no difficulty with the ‘concept’ of full cost recovery.
The next point, however, is strongly made, namely that full cost recovery should only apply to a ‘properly run, efficient and properly resourced service delivered at a fair cost to industry’.
“That would be no different to other services which abattoirs require to buy-in,” said SAMW. “FBOs go to a range of suppliers and invite tenders so that they can test the quality and price of the goods they choose to buy. Alas, the FSA is a monopoly public sector provider of services. Therein lies the problem, with no competition or stimulus to be better. In effect the FSA can provide the service that suits them at whatever price they choose.
“The effect of the cost recovery policy, should it proceed, will be to put companies out of business and increase unemployment. Apart from food supply concerns, home production will be substituted by imports, many from Third Countries, which will not be subject to the same rigour of inspection as in the UK. Consequently, Scotland Food and Drink’s high level target of increasing the value of Scottish production from £10 – £12.5 billion by 2017 will be threatened because, apart from whisky, meat is a main contributor.”
SAMW also questions the Agency’s promise of future charging economies.
“The FSA says it will make £5 million of efficiency savings in the next four years but this is lacking in ambition and carries no guarantees that it will be honestly delivered,” said SAMW. “In any event, a service costing £50 million still requires the processing sector to pay double what it is paying now. This will ruin many businesses, even if it is phased in over three years.”
The consultation document’s silence on how full costs will be calculated, also draws sharp comment.
“EU legislation requires the FSA to publish how it calculates its charges and restricts what such charges may include,” said SAMW. “Any reasonably informed reader of the legislation would conclude that the intention is to restrict charges to the direct costs of inspection staff. It is clear that the FSA includes significantly more than that.
“A very large amount of the FSA’s costs are overheads of one kind or another. Despite numerous requests to FSA we have not received information on this. However we do know that a large part of this is the pension liability for employed staff. We also know that the overhead on the supply of meat inspectors charged to FBOs is inordinately high, as much as 50% of what FSA contracts them for. It would be morally wrong for FBOs to be expected to pick up the cost of pension liabilities held by the FSA and at the same time for the FSA to profiteer through add-ons to staff contract prices. Transparency on all aspects of FSA finances is a pre-requisite of any proposal by a public body seeking to transfer its costs to the private sector.
“This consultation is a false representation and gives no solid foundation on which to take decisions affecting the future of businesses and the employees who work for them. Before any change is made to charges, the whole system of inspection and the FSA’s over burdensome approach to delivery should be investigated independently.”
Donald Biggar, Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, and Peter Hewson, a consultant in veterinary public health, were the keynote speakers at SAMW’s New Year lunch in Edinburgh on Friday, January 14.
In addressing what has become an important early year gathering of Scotland’s meat industry leaders, Mr Biggar reviewed his four years as QMS chairman, speaking ahead of his retirement from office in April this year.
Association president, Alan Craig, took the opportunity to thank Mr Biggar for his work at QMS, adding: “This has been a challenging time for the whole industry and your chairmanship has been valuable and certainly appreciated by our members.”
Mr Hewson, who has spent most of his working life with MAFF and the Food Standards Agency, delivered a detailed and informative assessment of meat inspection issues – past, present and future. His presentation drew an enthusiastic response from the gathering.
Priorities for 2011
Mr Craig also gave members and guests a brief assessment of SAMW’s priorities for 2011.
“While we have seen many issues come and go in the past 12 months,” he said, “there is still much unfinished business ahead, including some really crucial issues.
“Our lobbying to reduce BSE controls, for example, is paying off and we can expect some big decisions, which will reduce industry costs, to be taken soon. Less certain are the outcomes of CAP reform and the effect on livestock numbers. Good supplies of raw materials, in terms of quality livestock, remain the life blood of our industry. We all know the pressure that dwindling primary production places on our businesses.
“Then, of course, there’s the continuing focus on the future of meat inspection and FSA charges. The successful solving of the differences of opinions which surround this issue will be crucial for all of us in 2011. As such, SAMW will continue to be heavily involved in the necessary debates about all these matters, always being prepared to think ‘outside the box’ if new solutions are required to overcome some very long-running problems.”
T: 07768 654955 E: scott.walker@scconsultancy.uk
© samw.org.uk - All rights reserved - Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers | Privacy Policy