The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has criticised the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for the charges it is levying on the meat industry, and has commenced legal action.
AIMS veterinary director Peter Hewson said: “There are two reasons why we have taken this decision.
“Firstly, the FSA’s insistence on focusing any discussion on the meat charges ‘subsidy’ rather than looking for the causes of the excessively high charges.
“And, secondly, the scale of the increase in charges to be introduced from April 2025, which will see them rise by 11% for the industry as a whole and charges for medium-sized abattoirs increase by 25%.”
Hewson said: “Our letter asks the FSA to strip out all costs from its hourly rates that cannot be lawfully charged, and we urge them to relook at their calculations.”
Counsel advised AIMS that three issues should be included in the challenge:
- FSA included costs in its calculation of the new hourly rates of £65.90 for an Official Veterinarian (OV) and £43.20 for a Meat Hygiene Inspector (MHI) that cannot lawfully be included.
- It was reportedly impossible to ascertain what elements of the charges were “costs connected with” official controls. This was rather than the chargeable costs of exercising the official controls themselves, which it said was non-compliant with the requirement for a high level of transparency.
- AIMS alleged that charges for enforcement activity “go beyond the recovery of expenses”.
Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the FSA, stated: “We are aware of this action and we are considering the response. In the meantime more information on charging for our Official Controls can be found on food.gov.uk.”
