Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) has reacted to a Food Standards Agency (FSA) Call for Evidence by warning that increasing FSA charges for small abattoirs would create a major new challenge in the ongoing collaborative effort to reverse the decline of the network. 

The FSA has issued a Call to Evidence in relation to its charging structure for Official Controls (OC) in abattoirs, where Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors inspect every animal and carcase to ensure regulations are complied with and that the meat is fit for human consumption. Charges are currently discounted according to the number of hours involved so that smaller abattoir businesses, which require fewer hours regulation, receive a greater discount.

 Rare Breeds Survival Trust Chief Executive Christopher Price said: “It is crucial that smaller abattoirs continue to receive this discount on the cost of FSA regulation. 

 “A robust and resilient local abattoir network, capable of processing small numbers of different species and breeds, is vital for the sustainable livestock sector, particularly those farmers and smallholders keeping native breeds.

 “Reducing or removing the discount would put even greater pressure on already struggling businesses, posing a serious challenge to ongoing efforts to reverse the decline in the small abattoir network and having a serious impact on farmers and food producers more generally who would inevitably see a consequential increase in their costs. 

 “There are of course also the animal welfare implications of longer journey times if farmers have to take their animals to more distant abattoirs. 

 “Over the past year the collaborative effort to reverse the decline of small abattoirs has been strongly supported through government policies such as the Small Abattoir Fund, and we urge the new Defra Ministerial team to ensure that the important progress being made is not decimated by an increase in FSA charges.”