The Food Standards Agency has agreed to a reduction in the number of official hygiene inspections for dairy farms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in an attempt to make the system ‘more proportionate’ to the food safety risks.

Under the new hygiene inspection scheme, dairy farms supplying milk for pasteurisation will receive a routine official inspection every two years. For members of the Red Tractor Dairy Farm scheme, official inspections will be every ten years.

NFU dairy board member Russell Bowman, who also sits on the Red Tractor Assurance Dairy Board, welcomed the announcement, “The NFU has long called for the lower risk status of dairy farms in assurance schemes to be recognised by reducing the frequency of official inspections. We are pleased the FSA has offered a sensible proposal to reduce that burden. This will make a huge difference to dairy farmers, who have long complained about the duplication, bureaucracy, cost and time associated with inspections.

“Dairy farmers take their responsibilities to produce safe milk in hygienic conditions very seriously and this move to a more risk-based approach recognises the high standards already being achieved on British dairy farms.”

Mike Madders, Chairman of the Red Tractor Dairy Farm Scheme, said, “For assured dairy producers, the reduced inspection burden is an appropriate acknowledgement of the good hygiene standards that are being maintained by our members every day.”

The changes took effect on Friday (1st July) and will lead to a reduction in official inspections in England and Wales from over 11,000 to around 3,000 per year. Northern Ireland will see a reduction in inspections per year, from 4,500 to 3,200.