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FSA cuts back bureaucracy for food manufacturers

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) will cut red tape for small manufacturers following a Government investigation into how regulations can be streamlined.

Food companies with 50 employees or less piloted the “Focus on Enforcement” initiative, and reported back to the Government on how they found working with national regulators and local authorities.

New measures will include fewer inspections for businesses with a good record of compliance, improved training for standards enforcement officers, and work will be carried out with local authorities to make sure all enforcement is consistent across the board.

FSA also said it would investigate the systems in place for instances where a business disagrees with an enforcing officer, while food safety guidelines will be improved to make them clearer and more concise.

Industry stakeholders will also work alongside the FSA to examine guidelines for small manufacturers to see whether they are needed by the industry.

Michael Fallon, Business Minister, commented: “The Government understands that hard-pressed firms don’t have time for pointless bureaucracy.

“Smarter enforcement of regulation will spare firms from unnecessary red tape while ensuring that regulators concentrate their efforts where they are most needed to protect consumers and drive up standards.”

Jeff Rooker, Chair of the Food Standards Agency, said: “Good regulation protects the consumer and underpins business growth by enabling consumers to have confidence in what they eat.

“The FSA’s mission is to deliver safer food for the nation and these improvements will help with that by enabling us to focus resources where the risk is highest.”

The Government hopes to save up to £1bn in bureaucracy costs as a result of the “Focus on Enforcement” campaign by July this year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .