Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Charges) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2000

The Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Charges) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2000.

Purpose and Intended Effect of the Proposal

Identify the issues and objective
The new strategy for UK agriculture was unveiled at a summit meeting at No 10 Downing Street chaired by the Prime Minister. One of the elements is to remove charges for dairy hygiene inspections in England as soon as the necessary legislation can be put in place.

The Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995 (a) which implement Directive 92/46/EEC laying down health rules for the production and marketing of milk and milk products in the European Community, require the inspection of dairy production holdings. The Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate (part of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency of MAFF) undertakes these inspections to monitor compliance with the Regulations. Around 10,000 inspections take place in England every year. Since 1 April 2000 this work has been carried out on behalf of the Food Standards Agency.

Since 1987, most of the cost of dairy hygiene inspections at registered cows¿ milk production holdings in England and Wales has been recovered from producers through charges. The cost is currently set by The Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Charges) Regulations 1995 (b) at ¿94 per inspection. Producers of milk from sheep, goats and buffaloes are not charged. On 1 December 1999 the Welsh Assembly took a decision in principle to fund the inspection charge in Wales. In Scotland and Northern Ireland inspection arrangements are different, and producers are not charged.

The inspection charge is set to recover a substantial proportion of the costs of the programme (including time spent on farm, travel, follow-up work, overheads, invoicing and debt recovery). Charges are reviewed annually, and were last increased (from ¿92) in June 1994.

The Dairy Products (Hygiene) (Charges) (Amendment) (England) Regulations will remove hygiene inspection charges in England.

Risk assessment
There are no public health implications. Hygiene inspections will continue at a similar level to the present.

Issues of equity and fairness
The removal of the charges will equalise the position for all dairy farmers in the UK.

Benefits

Identify the benefits
The proposal aims to reduce the burden of costs on dairy farmers while maintaining the standards of enforcement of these public health inspections. Additionally, because the charge has been so unpopular, removal should increase co-operation over hygiene inspections, and result in improving hygiene standards at a time when these have been falling.

Business sectors affected
There are 18,008 registered cows' milk production holdings in England.

Compliance costs for a typical business
There are no compliance costs associated with this proposal as the measure is designed to reduce the burden of costs on dairy farmers. The value of removing the charge will vary for individual producers. Some production holdings are visited annually while others are visited every 2 - 2¿ years. Those with the highest hygiene standards are inspected every 3 - 4 years.

Total compliance costs
As indicated above there are no compliance costs for businesses. The proposal is worth almost ¿1million annually to English dairy farmers.

Impact on small business
There are no particular small business implications. Currently, all businesses are charged at a flat rate, regardless of size.

Other costs (to citizens, the environment, Government)
None, other than the cost to the Government of financing the inspection programme of almost £1million annually.

Result of consultations
The draft regulations were warmly welcomed by the 7 organisations which commented by the 2 May deadline, and there was no resistance to the proposal to remove the dairy hygiene inspection charge in England. Most respondents commented that the charge for microbiological sample testing of raw cows' drinking milk had been excluded from the scope of the proposal. Most of those were disappointed at this, and favoured either review or removal of this charge too.

Comment: the microbiological sample testing charge was omitted from the proposal. It has close links with the wider policy issue of raw cows' drinking milk, and to have included it would have resulted in delay to, and complication of, the removal of the dairy hygiene inspection charge.

Summary and recommendation
The proposal is part of the Government's "Strategy for UK agriculture" initiative announced on 30 March. The proposal to reduce burdens on the dairy farming sector is widely supported. There are no compliance costs for the industry. The Food Standards Agency recommends that this legislation be made.

Contact
Name: Chris Pratt
Address: Food Standards Agency, Room 416, PO Box 31037, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3WG.

Telephone/Fax: 020 7238 6466/6745