Farm minister Jim Paice announced today that he will begin work immediately to cut red tape in agriculture and horticulture, but his bureaucracy-busting pledge does not go far enough for the fresh produce sector, industry leaders warn.
The Farming Regulation Task Force, which published a long-awaited 152-page report today, will not remove unnecessary red tape and oppressive regulation that is having an impact on the fresh produce industry, said Fresh Produce Consortium chief executive Nigel Jenney, reporting that simultaneously DEFRA has advised the fresh produce industry of proposed additional costs for plant health inspections.
“Despite providing Defra and its Task Force with an extensive list of issues on behalf of the fresh produce industry, we still see little appetite to take up the real biting issuesimpacting on our industry,” Jenney. “The Task Force has done a laudable job in recommending a new approach to regulation, but fine words and a can-do culture change do not go far enough. This report has ignored key regulatory areas affecting the fresh produce supply chain.
“Weare extremely concerned about the emerging proposals to increase plant health charges by many millions. This is not acceptable, viable, or competitive versus our European counterparts.
Jenney acknowledgedthat DEFRA and FERA have a job to do but emphasised that the risk of any plant health issues arising from fresh produce is less than one per cent. “There is already an EU-wide review of the plant health regime underway and we await the findings; so why is FERA intent on imposing these exorbitant changes now and placing UK businesses at a commercial disadvantage?” he said, calling for existing standard charges only to beapplied, and for FERA to carry out a rigorous review of the level of service provided to the industry, with more reduced inspection levels reflecting the negligible risk from fresh produce.
“It’s unacceptable to impose more costs and delays on the industry on one handwhen you are promising on the other hand to regulate with a lighter touch. It just doesn’t add up. The Food & Environment Research Agency (FERA) should focus its resources where there are real risks and deliver a more efficient cost-effective service to importers and their agents.”
However, FPC welcomed the task force’s recommendation for“earned recognition” to reward good practice with less frequent inspection. “In its evidence to the Task Force FPC highlighted that the scheme could be developed further across several government department and their agents, bringing significant benefits, reducing resources and costs of at least £3m (€3.4m) for both industry and government,” said Jenney.
Meanwhile, former NFU director general Richard Macdonald, who headed up the task force, said his committee endorsed the Fruit and Vegetable Task Force’s regulatory recommendations made in the autumn last year and stated it was “pleased that DEFRA Ministers have accepted them”.
Announcing the report, farm minister Jim Paice said: “Weexpect our farmers and food producers to maintain the highest standards, but the way to get them to achieve those standards isn’t to wrap them up in red tape – we need to free them from unnecessary burdens….This was never about a bonfire of regulations but about changing the culture of how we apply and enforce regulation. We will continue to defend our high standards for environmental management, animal welfare and food safety. I am particularly interested in the recommendations to allow industry to earn our trust and reward good practice with less frequent inspections.... I’m also pleased to announcethe creation of a new Strategic Regulatory Scrutiny Panel, tasked with challenging and advising us on the way we think about regulation.
“Inthe longer term my priority will be to cut the unnecessary paperwork that farmers, growers and food producers have to deal with and, whereverpossible, move remaining paperwork online.”
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