'Privatised' meat inspection warning

Plans to allow greater self-regulation in abattoirs are criticised

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has warned against what it says are plans to privatise meat inspection.

The SNP says changes in the inspection system now being discussed in Europe - with the support of the UK Government - amount to privatisation.

The party has put down a motion at the Scottish Parliament saying the moves would be a recipe for disaster and would further undermine the public's confidence in food production.

The SNP's deputy health spokeswomen Shona Robison says privatising meat inspection would "inevitably lead to a conflict between safety and profit".

It is clear that the privatisation of meat inspections will further damage public confidence in the food they eat.

SNP's deputy health spokeswoman Shona Robison

She said: "In Australia, meat-related food-borne illness has been steadily increasing since meat inspection was privatised in 1994.

"Public confidence in food production in this country has already declined since the BSE and E.coli crises.

"It is clear that the privatisation of meat inspections will further damage public confidence in the food they eat."

Ms Robison added: "The SNP believes that the protection of public health should not be privatised. The government and the Food Standards Agency must think again about supporting such proposals."

Self-regulation

Ms Robison's motion in the Scottish Parliament is supported by the public service union Unison which has 200 members employed in Scotland's 41 abattoirs.

It says the recent experience at the abattoir in Essex - where the foot-and-mouth outbreak was discovered - had shown the need for an even stricter government-run meat inspection service.

It says self-regulation will not work.

The government's Food Standards Agency says it has no plans to privatise the service.

The new hazard analysis system of meat inspection, being discussed in Brussels, it says, is simply a way of modernising the process and would reduce the risk of infection.

Hygiene standards

The Food Standards Agency says it fully supports independent enforcement of the regulation on meat hygiene.

But it says meat inspection needs to be modernised and discussions on this are underway in Europe.

The Agency claims it would not support any change to the meat inspection system that might be detrimental to public health.

And it will consult widely with all stakeholders during discussions on this over the next few months, so that new legislation will provide a system ensuring the safety of meat.

Final decisions will be for ministers and the FSA will advise the UK government and Scottish Ministers at appropriate stages

Cost of inspections

The Agency said it had no plans for relaxing the BSE controls, or altering the vital role played by the Meat Hygiene Service.

Unison says the plan amounts to privatisation and will mean a drop in hygiene standards.

The Association of Meat Inspectors shares Unison's view, saying the slaughter companies have long felt the cost of inspections was too high.

Leaving the inspections to them, it argues, would lower standards.

The association also believes the changes are being considered "quietly" by government without enough public debate.