Defra and FSA call for CCTV to be installed in UK abattoirs

The FSA is carrying out a review of abattoirs, following a recent EU inspection that found evidence of non-compliance with the regulations in some UK abattoirs.

Agency chief executive Tim Smith said he intended to develop a ‘detailed plan’ for the industry within six months that will include the voluntary installation of CCTV cameras in abattoirs.

“We have to get tougher with the weaker points in the meat supply chain,” Mr Smith said in a recent interview with the Times.

However, he acknowledged that the agency did not have the legal powers to force abattoirs to install the cameras and would be relying on them to voluntarily grant Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) inspectors access to the images.

An FSA spokesman said: “The MHS and Defra support the provision of CCTV as a way of helping food business operators to comply with legislation. The scale and complexity of the work the MHS regulates means our vets cannot oversee the slaughter of every individual animal and bird.”

British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) director Stephen Rossides said some abattoirs already use CCTV cameras for a variety of reasons but that he would have ‘serious concerns’ about making it compulsory.

“We would need to see evidence that the welfare risk is such as to make compulsory CCTV a proportional and justified response. I am not convinced that the evidence exists,” he said, adding that it would be an extra burden on the sector.

The RSPCA is planning to make it compulsory for CCTV cameras to be installed in all its Freedom Food scheme abattoirs and is calling for the policy to be extended to all UK plants.

The animal welfare charity said it was ‘aware of the significant welfare risks involved’ of having large numbers of animals going through abattoirs every day and that this was an area that needed ‘even closer scrutiny’.

Its proposal was supported by Compassion in World Farming and the Soil Association, which said it was ‘in the early stages of drafting such a change into its organic standards’.

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