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“Trust but verify”

- the changing role of food law enforcement.

Stuart Musgrove

Food Law Enforcement Consultant

stuartmusgrove@waitrose.com

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This morning’s presentation

• Introduction

• Legislation and practice

• Structure and delivery

• Current situation

• Future enforcement structure

• Conclusions.

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Introduction

• 434 Local Authorities, 2900 professional staff, 600 support staff

• Responsible for enforcement of most food legislation

• From primary production to retail sales, imported foods

• Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Public Analyst, Health Protection Agency

• LACORS

• Apply a range of “official controls”

• Regular contact with businesses - over 500,000 trade checks per year

• Supported by laboratories

• Framework Agreement - “contract” with the Food Standards Agency

• Professional bodies - qualifications.

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Legislation - European

• E U General Food Regulation 178/2002• Food and animal feed safety, Food presentation, Food fraud,

Traceability

• Food Control Regulation 882/2004• Eliminate risk, permit fair trade, protect consumer interests

• Definitions, official control tasks, training of officials

• Member States shall ensure that official controls are carried out regularly, on a risk basis and with appropriate frequency......taking account of:

• identified risks associated with food, businesses, processes, activities

• food business operators past record of compliance

• reliability of FBO’s own checks

• any information that might indicate non-compliance

• Any non-compliance has to be identified, risked and appropriate action taken to correct the situation.

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Food Control Regulation 882/2004 - Definitions

• “Audit”

• a systematic and independent examination to determine whether activities and related results comply with planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable to achieve objectives

• “Inspection”

• the examination of any aspect of feed, food, animal health and animal welfare in order to verify that such aspect(s) comply with the legal requirements of feed and food law and animal health and animal welfare rules

• Local Authority inspections should include an audit of food safety systems but then, a more detailed scrutiny to confirm compliance with all legislation.

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Food Control Regulation 882/2004 - Tasks and training requirements of the inspectors

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Food Law Code of Practice (England)

• Code of Practice - 181 pages

• Qualifications, experience and training

• Enforcement approach

• Interventions (includes Official Controls)

• Risk rating system

• Practice Guidance - 243 pages

• Further detail of operational details

• Mainly concerned with hygiene inspections

• Further operational advice from LACORS.

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Local Authority Enforcement Structures and Priorities

• County Councils, District Councils, Unitary Authorities in England

• Very variable arrangements within Authorities

• Consolidation of Departments in Local Authority

• No longer Chief Officers in Environmental Health or Trading Standards

• Less professionals at the strategic /policy decision level

• Now usually part of groups that might include eg environmental services, highways, fire service.

• Traditionally most Local Authority Departments, and many officers enforce many other areas of legislation

• health and safety, pest control, stray dogs, pollution control, consumer safety, weights and measures, infectious disease control, animal health and welfare

• Rogers Report March 2007 tried to identify national priorities.

9 Rogers Review

Sifting from over 60 policy areas to six national priorities

9From “Determining National Priorities for local authority enforcement services” 2007

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Food law enforcement visits

• Hygiene, food composition, labelling

• Premises

• Primary production ?

• Manufacturing / processing

• Distribution / wholesale 16,000

• Catering 400,000

• Retail premises 130,000

• Control tasks eg

• Audits including HACCP procedures

• Paperwork check - including Third Party Audits

• Inspection

• Sampling

• Alternative enforcement strategies.

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How effective are enforcement inspections

• Welcomed by most food businesses - free services

• Central Government has been gathering information for years

• 2003 reasoned that data supplied not reliable

• New system developed - too soon for detailed conclusions

• 2009/10 more inspections, more prosecutions

• Local Authority enforcement departments audited by the FSA

• Look into systems in place, what has been done, accompanying inspectors new

• Perhaps becoming more critical than earlier

• Pennington Report into South Wales E.coli outbreak enquiry tell a different story.

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• Food Industry is very heterogeneous and also very innovative

• Mixed farm, importer of organic herbs, gastropub, factory making ready meals, supermarket with 15000 food lines.

• The knowledge of the law and skills to inspect all businesses is vast

• Qualifications, Training, Experience and competency

• Assessment of risk, HACCP, labelling, fraud

• Relevant advice for legal compliance

• What percentage of inspection outcomes would be really that different ?

• FSA and Local Authorities working on achieving consistency of inspections

• Establishment risk rating

How consistent are enforcement inspections

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Charles Darwin - On the Origin of Species -1859

“ it is not the strongest species that

survive,

nor the most intelligent,

but the ones most responsive to change”

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The enforcement role in changing times

• FSA will retain the lead role in England

• But in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ?

• Role of DEFRA and Dept of Health in food policy development to increase

• Not forgetting the role of other Government Departments

• Primary Authority, Earned immunity, Frequency of inspection

• Likely that Local Government will retain a role in Food Law enforcement

• Part of the localism agenda

• Delay in FSA review

• FSA will continue to audit local authorities

• Challenge to ensure and effective food control role.

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The future role in changing times

• Already in Local Government• Significant loss of resources, experienced staff, sampling budgets

• Recruitment limited, training reduced for staff retained

• Priorities being reviewed

• Loss of national co-ordination - LACORS

• For the industry • Loss of free independent inspections, sampling and advice

• Support lost to small growing companies

• Economic development

• New resources to fund food control - charge of all inspections?• Private industry to provide inspection services

• Develop new ways of working• Wider use of new technology

• Can third party audits play a role?

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Assessing the “proportional” response

Hard enforcement

Light touch,compliance

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The swinging pendulum

But recent history

Banking - The other FSA

Haringay Social Services

Pennington ReviewWelsh E.coli out break

Light touch,compliance

Enforcement

Hard enforcement

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What does the future hold ?

“If you want to get to there,

I would not start from her

e”

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What does the future hold ? - A New Structure.

• Clarify the enforcement role - no advice, no support - just enforcement

• Simplify the structure at Government level

• Create a Food Control Agency

• Regional structure and responsibilities

• primary production

• manufacture /processing

• Home and Primary Authority

• Local offices

• retail / catering

• Combine the professional roles - “Food Control Officers”

• Laboratories

• Resources.

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Conclusions

• Explained the legal requirements

• Discussed the structure both at national and local level

• Reviewed the changes taking place at present

• Suggested a new regime with clearer lines of responsibility

• But for the immediate future

• What can be done with significantly less resources

• Concentrate on those businesses that are likely to break the law and affect the communities they serve

• For the rest, it is rather more trust, and rather less verification that is the order of the day.

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• Thanks to the IFST Western Branch for inviting me here today.

•stuartmusgrove@waitrose.com