MEPs say ‘no’ to hygiene inspection charges

Food service operators in Northern Ireland may yet face the additional burden of having to pay for their regular hygiene inspections despite the voting down of a last-minute amendment to wide-ranging new proposals that were put before the European Commission this month.
The EC had proposed changes to the regulations governing the catering industry which could have seen venues here being charged up to £500 every time inspectors called to assess their premises.
Until now, a special exemption meant that those foodservice businesses that turned over less than £2m per year were not billed for the inspections. But proposed changes to the regulations could see that clause written out.
In the vote this month, MEPs agreed an amendment to the legislation that was tabled by Labour MEPs. The amendment allows governments to exempt small and medium businesses from the requirement to pay fees and specifies that they should in particular take account of the number of employees, the size of the business and the level of risk in the business’s activities.
But the new regulations do provide from some wide-ranging changes to food service provision generally, including unannounced inspections at food service outlets wherever possible and tough new penalties for those involved in the supply of meat if they are found to be misleading customers about the origins of their produce.
And the old requirement for a vet to be present at abattoirs is also to be reinstated following recent reports that claimed meat inspections were being watered down.
Speaking to LCN following the vote on the EC proposals, the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA), said that there had been no formal consultation on charging small food operators and retailers in Northern Ireland for food inspections, but added:
“As an association that actively supports the sustainability and growth of the small business sector across Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Local Government Association would have concerns about how such a proposal might impact on the small business sector and we would therefore be likely to support some local exemptions should such a proposal be formally brought forward.”
And Mark Laurie, director of the Nationwide Caterers’ Association has warned that the threat of charges for hygiene inspections hasn’t gone away. He said this month that while the amendment was “a great start”, there was still a long way to go. His organisation has now launched a petition in opposition to the charges and he believes that the debate is far from over:
“At the time of writing, it is still not clear whether the clause has been fully re-instated; we think it is unlikely considering the determination of the authorities to remove the clause without consultation, so this leads us onto the next stage of our fight,” he warned. “We are encouraging people to continue to sign and promote our petition to put pressure on the government and European Parliament in order to make sure the clause is permanently reinstated to protect small businesses.”