Food Standards Agency draft strategic plan 2005 - 2010

Food safety will continue to be a high priority for the Agency. However many of our stakeholders have told us that we should also be planning to do more in the area of diet and nutrition. As with all our work, we will take an evidence-based approach.

In the new strategic plan enclosed with this letter we have not set out to describe all the work that the Agency will be doing. Our intention has been instead to highlight those areas where we intend to focus particular effort.

For each of the priority areas-Food safety, Eating for health and Choice- we are setting ourselves tough targets on which you will be able to judge our progress and success. We believe these are the right priorities for our future work but would like to hear your views. In particular we would welcome comments in response to the following questions.

Q1. We think that our priority areas for the next 5 years should be Food Safety (foodborne illness and chemical contamination), Eating for Health and Choice. Do you agree?

Q2. How appropriate and how achievable do you think that the proposed targets are? It would help if you could make it clear which specific target(s) your comments relate to and explain briefly your reasoning.

Q3. Some of the targets that we have set are aspirational and we need to do a lot of work to map out how to achieve them. Do you agree with the principle of setting aspirational targets even though this increases the risk that we may not achieve all of them?

Q4. The draft strategic plan contains an interim position on sustainability. The Board will be considering this area in more detail later in 2004. The present consultation is one route through which we are inviting stakeholder comments ahead of the Board's discussions. What issues should the Agency be tackling in this area bearing in mind that the means by which food is produced is not within the Agency's remit unless it affects safety or public health.

Q5. We recognise that we will need to work with a wide range of interests to deliver the proposed targets. Have we overlooked any groups or individuals who will have a key role to play?

One thing that we have stressed throughout the plan is that we cannot be successful without the help of many other people. Everyone has a part to play.

Please let us know what you think about this plan, the contact details are given above.

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the consultation feedback questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. Responses will be open to public access upon request. The FSA will also publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name and contact address details. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact Judith Taylor, the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator, on 020 7276 8633.
Email: judith.taylor@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk