EC planning to charge for food hygiene inspections

The European Commission is proposing changes to the regulations governing the catering industry which could see venues here being charged up to £500 every time inspectors call to assess their premises.

The cost would be applied to every visit, even random inspections.

Previously there was a clause within the Commission’s proposals that detailed measures for calculations of fees and a mandatory exemption for micro-businesses. The clause stated that a micro-business employing fewer than 10 people or with a turnover of less than €2m should be exempt. The clause has now been deleted.

The Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) has launched a petition to reinstate the exemption.

The vote is due to take place on April 14 and the NCASS has said that it believes, if it goes ahead, the change could significantly affect the catering industry as authorities will be legally obliged to recover all of the costs of all inspections from the individual businesses. This will apply to all food business operators, newly set up or well established. Initial inspections as well as further inspections will all be subject to charges under the proposal.

The actual cost for an inspection for a business will depend on elements such as the distance the inspectors have to travel.  Inspections that take less than an hour will be less expensive but the minimum cost has not been outlined and a figure of £500 has been suggested.

But Mark Laurie, NCASS director, warned that “one size does not fit all” businesses:

“Event caterers, market traders and street food traders can be inspected up to 10 times a year. This would mean huge outgoings per year on inspections alone. If this clause is not put back in, it could potentially kill the event catering and street food industry and could pose a major barrier to entry for start-up businesses. We are supposed to be supporting small businesses in the UK but they will be unable to survive if each inspection costs them as much as £500.”

And he added:

“These are cold hard facts from our members that show the number of inspections that they can undergo in a year. None of these inspections were the result of failure or below average food hygiene ratings, but due to current UK legislation shortcomings. At NCASS we want to protect our members and the independent catering industry so we are calling on all members and businesses to sign a petition to get this clause back in place; it is a glimmer of hope that will keep the independent catering industry alive.”