In an interview with Globalmeatnews.com, director of the Food and Veterinary Office at the European Commission Michael Scannell said official charges paid by the meat industry for veterinary inspections could be seen in all food operations.
Official inspections are mandatory across slaughterhouses and meat processing facilities throughout Europe. However, the controls may be rolled out across the whole of the food industry as part of a package of proposals from the European Commission.
The proposals, entitled ‘Animal and Plant Health Package: Smarter rules for safer food’ were introduced by Commissioner Borg in May, as a result of the horsemeat scandal, and could be enforced by 2016.
Scannell said there were five components in the legislation, which is a slimmed-down version of the 70 currently in force across the EU. He explained that, out of four options within the proposal package, the most beneficial one was a full cost recovery option, which would see registered food and feed businesses cover the cost of inspections.
Scannell questioned the extent to which the food industry could be trusted to vet itself, but did admit: “To a certain extent you can leave most of them to do a good job, it’s more efficient to do a job right rather than to do it wrong.”
However, the European meat industry may be concerned over paying extra costs and the food industry in general may be anxious about not getting value for money – a point Scannell sympathised with. “You need a strong policy in place, so that everybody plays by the same rules. The meat industry will not be faced with cost subsidising,” he said.
But he further explained that full cost recovery would be based on transparency, to ensure that food operators were doing business properly. “They have to pay a fee and they will get something in return for that,” he said.
Despite the possibility of implementing a full cost recovery system, there will not be a uniform level of fees, he added. “Circumstances vary from one member state to the other. Wages in certain parts of the EU are only a fraction of what they are in the UK, so it wouldn’t be fair or indeed feasible to have a single uniform level, so circumstances will vary from one level to another.”
Rather, member states would be expected to “benchmark” one another where fees are concerned. Scannell added that experience had shown the inquisitive nature of member states when it came to such circumstances. “From personal experience in the past, a lot of questions are being asked in the EU on how fee charges in the UK compare with other member states and whether they were being carried out efficiently,” he said.
Scannell concluded: “This package will further refine that system; it will introduce some important flexibility simplification guaranteeing that the controls are going to be properly financed. Ultimately, we hope and we are confident that it will lead to greater integration of the internal market.”