Graig Farm - What is Organic? > Threat to the Independent Meat Sector

Threat to the Independent Meat Sector

For 60 years there has been a relentless shrinking of the number of abattoirs operating in the UK. This trend has escalated over the past 10 years, when over 1,000 have closed, leaving only just over 300 in operation. Many of these plants faced closure in April 2001 due to the method of charging for meat inspection adopted by the UK government.

Following pressure from, amongst others, the Soil Association (click here for their report on the subject), the UK government announced in December 2000 that it was to adopt the recommendations of a Task Force which had proposed a change in the basis of charging for meat inspection from hourly to per head of livestock.

It is now clear that this will be implemented in such a way that most plants will be able to remain in business. Indeed it may be possible that some 'moth-balled' plants may be able to re-open.

This is excellent news for all involved in the local meat industry. However, the story is not yet over, and other threats remain to the future of this sector. Those involved must remain vigilant.

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Background

All UK meat processing plants fall under the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), which is an agency of the Food Standards Agency. They are charged with inspecting all meat processing premises.

When an animal goes for meat, it will first pass through a slaughter house, where MHS staff will ensure that correct practices of welfare and hygiene are followed. Often the carcasses will then move on to a registered cutting plant, where the meat is processed into wholesale or retail packs. Here again, the MHS inspects the operation to ensure that the correct hygiene standards are being adhered to. Both slaughter house and cutting plants are then further sub-divided into full- and low-throughput. There is a volume cut-off point between the two classifications.

The threat

Until April 1998, meat in smaller abattoirs was inspected by meat inspectors, with overall supervision and regular visits by vets. At the insistence of the EU, UK plants have had to increase the levels of attendance of the vets to full-time by April 2001.

From 1996, when the government embarked on the MHS, they had a choice of how to recover costs of meat inspection. They could either charge a fixed fee for every animal slaughtered, or they could charge for MHS staff by the hour. The government decided, alone in the EU, that the basis of charging for meat inspection would be by the hour which each official spent in each plant. By increasing the hours of expensive veterinary attendance, costs of meat inspection were set to rise significantly in April 2001.

The hourly system of cost recovery hit small processors disproportionately hard due to the economies of scale enjoyed by the largest plants.

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The likely results

If this situation was to continue, it would have a number of effects.

Firstly, the smallest, and most vulnerable members of the meat processing community will be forced out of business by these excessive charges.

With the increasing pressure on existing smaller plants, the way is becoming open for an oligarchy of the supermarkets controlling large abattoirs and cutting cutting plants.

However, the effects would have been felt far and wide in the rural community. As plants closed, farmers will be unable to have their animals processed for selling directly to the public. Farmers markets, farm shops and some butchers will close; conservation and wildlife will suffer as specialised grazing systems will no longer be viable; animal welfare would suffer as longer journeys become necessary; and consumer choice will be dealt a devastating blow. To the organic sector the effects would be nothing short of disastrous.

Report by Soil Association shows the widespread impact which closure of more smaller plants would have

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The current situation

In June 2000, a Task Force, headed by Colin Maclean, reported to the government on how this looming crisis should be handled. Its recommendations were unequivocal. If the smaller, local end of the meat industry was to be saved, the government must reverse its policy on its method of charging for meat inspection.

As part of the Rural White Paper in December 2000, the government announced that it would accept the Task Force's proposal to move from a system of charging per hour to that of charging per head of livestock. This brings the UK into line with the rest of the EU.

The UK's Food Standards Agency have implemented the change in meat inspection charging system more or less as the Maclean Task Force proposed. This is excellent news for the industry, as costs of inspection are no longer a threat to the existence of small and medium-sized plants.

Meanwhile, there remain several other threats to smaller-scale quality food production from governments, both domestically and from the EU. We are not yet out of the woods, but we may have turned a vital corner in the fight for local food.

What do you think ?

Please let us have your reaction to the problems facing smaller quality food producers, and meat in particular.

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