A report into the handling of this year’s horsemeat scandal has claimed UK regulators lack “mature and effective” arrangements to detect food fraud.
The UK’s National Audit Office said that the Government’s focus on food safety meant that it “failed to identify the possibility of adulteration of beef products with horsemeat” despite “indications of heightened risk”.
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The report emphasised the growing threat presented by food fraud: local authorities reported 1,380 cases in 2012, up by two-thirds since 2010.
In addition, the division of responsibility for food safety issues between the Food Standards Agency and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs meant local authorities were “confused” in the early stages of the incident over which department was taking the lead in the investigation.
“The Government recognises that it needs to address weaknesses in its intelligence gathering and sharing and its understanding of opportunities for fraud throughout the modern food chain,” the report stated.
A separate investigation – from the House of Commons parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee – also concluded early delays were caused by confusion over where reponsibility for the UK’s response lies.
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By GlobalData“There was a lack of clarity as a result of the machinery of government changes about where responsibility lay for the response to the horsemeat discovery. This initial confusion in the early days of the discovery was unhelpful and there should be better communication about the FSA’s role,” the Committee stated.
However, in an official parliamentary response to the Committee’s findings, Defra insisted the Government reacted “quickly” and was “instrumental” in resolving the situation at a European level.
“The government recognised very early in the incident that there was likely to be complex international criminal activity involved… A lack of information being given out publicly should not be interpreted as meaning the investigation has not proceeded well or as expected,” Defra insisted.
Defra also downplayed any confusion arising from the division of responsibility between Defra and the FSA.
“It is perfectly normal for policy responsibility to be with Ministers and responsibility for enforcement to be with a separate delivery body. This is a situation mirrored across Government and the Government does not accept that the current division of responsibilities between Defra and FSA undermined the response to the horsemeat incident.”
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, has commissioned an independent review of the UK’s food system. The review started in early June and will take nine to 12 months to complete.
