FSA visits for every UK meat plant

London —The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched an ongoing programme of approval visits to all UK meat plants. The move follows the introduction of new EU hygiene regulations on 1 Jan, which require all meat plants to be approved if they are to continue trading.

The FSA programme is expected to be mainly completed within a 12-18 month timeframe, according to an Agency spokeswoman, who estimated that around 1000 facilities would be involved.

All plants that were operating under cover of a licence at the end of last year will be able to continue to trade until an approval visit has been carried out, the Agency pointed out in a 9 March statement.

"The Agency will take a firm but fair approach to re-approving meat plants and will offer as much help and support to businesses as it can," said Alick Simmons, FSA veterinary director.

However, he warned, "where appropriate action is not taken in order to comply with the regulations, the FSA will not hesitate to refuse approval and therefore non-compliant plants may have to close, subject to appeal."