UK regulator to increase inspection charges
supervision from industry, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA)
plans to increase its charges to the meat sector by 3.5 per cent
next year.
The proposals apply to the operators of all approved meat processors, who are charged either according to the hourly rates paid to inspectors, or to set rates based on throughput of animals. Under the new rules all operators would continue to pay the lesser of the time costs or throughput charges.
"The proposal to enable the current time cost charging practice to continue and to increase throughput charges by 3.5 per cent would tend to maintain the present proportions of businesses that pay on a time costs or throughput basis and would thus have a minimal effect on competition," the FSA stated.
An FSA assessment of the proposed changes forecasts that small firms would not have a significant impact on small businesses. Operators of small meat establishments are generally charged on the basis of their throughput and would be affected by the proposed 3.5 per cent increase in charges.
For example the current charge for inspecting six-week old cows is £307.31 per 100 head. This would increase by £ 10.76 to £318.06 per 100 head next year.
The FSA points out the increase is the first since throughput charges were introduced in 2001.
"Given that business costs and the cost of meat hygiene controls have increased significantly since that time and that the increases will preserve the rates at approximately their present value in real terms, we do not believe that the impact on small businesses will be significant," the FSA stated.
The regulations will also be amended to reflect current time cost charging practices more exactly. The amendment ensures that the hourly rates for inspectors may continue to be less than their full costs and may continue to be gradually increased towards full cost recovery.
The current meat hygiene charging system was introduced in 2001 to support smaller slaughterhouses and cutting plants. This was achieved by providing for official control charges to be the lower of time cost charges and the charge calculated from standard EU rates.
However, the level of subsidy has grown over the years, largely because time cost charges have been increased, to cover inflation and to move closer to full cost recovery, the FSA stated. At the same time throughput rates have not been increased since their introduction.
This has resulted in an increasing difference between time cost and throughput charges, which has led an increasing number of businesses to move to throughput based charges.
Hourly rates charged for inspectors are currently about 20 per cent to 30 per cent below their full cost. These have been increased in recent years by two per cent above cost inflation to move them towards full cost recovery.
The deadline for consultation is 8 December.
Last year the UK's treasury department proposed allowing the FSA to charge both large and small abattoirs the full amount for veterinary surgeons to be present in slaughterhouses.
Full rates for a veterinarian surgeon are usually around £90 (€133) an hour. Currently, small abattoirs pay a fixed fee for the inspection of individual animals.
