The Food Standards Agency looks set to tackle the burden of supplier factory audits, which have left some suppliers feeling buried under red tape.
It said it planned to tackle “unreasonable” audit requests from retailers as part of its plans to draw up a new “light-touch” model for food assurance, which would reduce the administrative burden and allow far greater use of modern technology.
“There needs to be a level playing field approach to food hygiene audits across businesses,” said Nina Purcell, director of local delivery at the FSA.
She branded the current system, which has been in place for about 30 years, “outdated” and “resource-intensive”.
“We think there is a better way and we are working in partnership with industry, consumers and local authorities to develop a food assurance system that penalises the bad guys and lets the good ones get on with running their businesses.
“Not duplicating the work of others is a key principle for this work, so we’re interested in possibilities for reducing government and private inspection burdens on businesses.
“We also think technology has a huge role to play in this. For example, why can’t we see businesses sharing their own data with us and the public to grow consumer confidence and limit intervention from regulatory bodies?”
Last month, FDF director general Ian Wright called for industry-wide talks to prevent what he called “foolish” and “unreasonable” demands being placed on companies as part of the audits, such as auditors requesting contradictory electrical specifications for suppliers’ premises.
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