The High Court has ruled that elements of the Food Standards Agency’s charging regime for official controls at slaughterhouses and abattoirs were unlawful, in a legal case thought to change the way inspection costs are recovered from the meat industry.
The judicial review was brought by the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers and the British Meat Processors Association, which challenged the basis on which the regulator calculates and recovers charges for food hygiene and safety controls.
Presiding over the case, Mrs Justice Dias found that the FSA had been levying charges unlawfully.
The agency accepted that the court must quash the hourly rates applied to official controls and enforcement activities, as well as the supporting cost data used to calculate those rates.
Industry groups argued that businesses had been required to fund inefficiencies within the inspection system, including costs linked to contractor management arrangements.
It is understood further arguments about the ruling, which focuses on what activities and personnel can lawfully be included within the charges paid by slaughterhouses, will now be heard on the precise terms of the court order.
The case comes against the backdrop of rising regulatory costs for the sector. According to the claimants, annual charges for official controls currently total around £64m, with fees increasing by 24% this year, a sharp rise in an industry operating on low profit margins.
FSA chief executive Katie Pettifer said: “We have carefully considered the court’s judgment in the judicial review brought by AIMS regarding our meat inspection charges.
“While the ruling does not challenge the principle that we can charge for meat inspection, we are disappointed with its conclusions about how charges are calculated. We acted in good faith in calculating our charge rates and in presenting the information we publish about them and are seeking leave to appeal the judgment.
“While the majority of our charges will not be in dispute, the ruling does create some uncertainty over some elements. We know businesses will want clarity on what this will ultimately mean in practice, and we will provide further information as quickly as the legal process allows.
“Food safety is non-negotiable. Our Official Vets and Meat Hygiene Inspectors carry out essential work every day that protects public health, upholds animal welfare, and underpins the £11.3 billion meat industry. That will not change.”
Among other risks, the industry warned such soaring costs will add to cost of living obstacles, food inflation and the fear it will endanger the viability of many slaughterhouses.
AIMS executive direcor Jason Aldiss said: “The judgment must now mark the beginning of a complete reset in the relationship between the regulator and the meat industry, founded upon legality, proportionality, transparency and scientific risk-based regulation.”
Meanwhile, John Powell, chief executive of BMPA, welcomed the ruling and said it exposed weaknesses in the FSA’s charging policy. He said the association would work with the regulator to establish a fairer and more transparent approach to delivering official controls.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw added: “Today’s ruling is a hugely significant outcome for the livestock sector and is a brilliant result for the meat industry, the NFU and our members. This has been a key issue we’ve consistently raised with government over many months due to the pressure these charges put on abattoirs.”
“The NFU has long‑held the view that these charges on abattoirs risk seriously impacting the wider livestock sector. It has consistently urged government to carry out a full review of the FSA’s charging regime to ensure that charges are fair and equitable and do not disadvantage UK businesses.
“Since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East the NFU has also asked government to postpone these charges and adopt a different approach to help ease cost pressures on livestock farmers.”
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