The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is consulting on its proposals to amend the Feed Law Code of Practice and Practice Guidance. The Code and Guidance have to be taken into account by local authorities when enforcing feed law requirements in England (there are separate documents for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
The FSA is developing an innovative “whole system strategy” to feed law control and enforcement. The proposed amendments to the Code and Guidance aim to improve consistency of enforcement and reduce the regulatory burden for feed businesses, while maintaining a high level of public and animal protection. In particular, the proposals seek to:
- Encourage consistency in the interpretation and implementation by local authorities of official feed controls by simplifying the Code and Guidance;
- Give local authorities greater flexibility to focus resources on higher risk and non-compliant feed businesses;
- Introduce a new National Targeted Monitoring Strategy with greater flexibility as to the type and frequency of interventions for low risk farms; and
- Reduce the regulatory burden on compliant businesses, including replacing the existing two tier approach to enforcement with a single official control every 10 years.
Consistency of enforcement, a simplified regime and reduced regulatory burden are likely to be welcomed by feed industry stakeholders who are invited to respond to the consultation before the deadline on 15 December 2017. A full summary of responses will be published within three months of this date.
The full consultation document is available here.