The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has highlighted the importance of supporting small and medium sized abattoirs in response to the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) stakeholder consultation on early proposals for a future delivery model.
The consultation set out proposals on how the future delivery model should move away from the current standardised approach and towards a targeted and modernised way of working to improve overall compliance and the distribution of resources.
The FUW supported proposals on a tailored presence for Food Business Operators (FBOs) with varying levels of compliance, different rules for those supplying the domestic and/or export markets and the collection of more accurate data, however, concerns remained in regards to how such changes could affect food safety and increase costs for small and medium FBOs.
An All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) report recently revealed that there were 30,000 abattoirs in the UK in 1930 but in 2017, there were just 249, 56 of which were small red meat abattoirs.
In addition, a survey of small and local abattoirs conducted by the National Craft Butchers (NCB) across Wales, England and Scotland revealed that 59% expect to close within five years if current ‘one-size fits all’ regulations are not urgently reviewed and Governments don’t recognise the importance of small abattoirs and provide the necessary investment to safeguard them for the future.
The Welsh Government's White Paper for Agriculture set out proposals to shorten supply chains with a new emphasis on localism and retaining the value of food produced within Wales, objectives which will only be possible to achieve with sufficient small and local abattoirs.
The FUW emphasised how imperative it will be for specific support measures to be included as part of a future delivery model which reduce costs for smaller slaughterhouses and ensure that small and medium sized FBOs receive the appropriate support ahead of changes such as investment into digital infrastructure.
The FUW will continue to engage with the FSA as the future delivery model is developed and implemented.