FSA Proposes Changes to Inspection Frequencies for UK Dairy Farms
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking stakeholder input on an updated framework for primary production official control (OC) inspections at dairy establishments in England and Wales. FSA intends to introduce an increased frequency of OC inspection at establishments that are assessed to be less compliant.
As the existing framework has not been updated since 2012, FSA commissioned a review of the frequency of OC inspections at registered dairy establishments to inform possible updates. A group of stakeholders was gathered to review the current inspection frequencies, which concluded that the current system of using assurance schemes to oversee standards compliance is adequate. The Red Tractor Farm Assurance (RTFA) scheme allows dairy establishments to benefit from “earned recognition,” requiring less frequent FSA OC inspections at premises that remain compliant with the assurance scheme standards.