How Effective are the Current Enforcement Structures on Animal Welfare and Meat Hygiene in Abattoirs and Slaughterhouses?
There have been a number of indicators in recent years that question the effectiveness of the current enforcement structures. They include reports of the European Commission auditors of the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), the South Wales E. coli Inquiry and recent covert animal welfare operations. 3. Standards at slaughterhouses have undoubtedly improved since 2006 as a result of an exercise in which all meat premises were re-approved by experienced Veterinary Meat Hygiene Advisers (VMHAs) of the FSA. Less than 30% of UK abattoirs were found to be fully approvable at the first VMHA visit, despite years of permanent supervision by an official veterinarian. However given clear guidance on what was required to comply, the vast majority of premises have since been fully approved, often after considerable investment. It is worthy of note that in Wales a significantly higher percentage of premises were fully approved on the first occasion. This was explained by additional pre-approval inpu
