Tuesday 14 October 2008

Meat establishment audit categories

The Audit Categories have been published on a monthly basis. They show the last audit of individual meat establishment throughout the UK.

Under EU food hygiene legislation, which has applied from 1 January 2006, Food Business Operators' procedures and controls in approved establishments must be audited. Meat establishments subject to veterinary control (i.e. slaughterhouses, cutting plants and game handling establishments) are audited by the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) in Great Britain and by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in Northern Ireland.

In previous years, licensed meat plants were assessed under a Hygiene Assessment Scheme (HAS) and the results were published. To see previous HAS scores, please see Hygiene Assessment System (HAS) scores

Purpose of the audit
The hygienic production of fresh meat is the responsibility of the Food Business Operator (FBO). The purpose of the official audit is:

to provide assurance that the FBO's procedures and controls are operating effectively
to make recommendations to the FBO where improvements to internal procedures and controls are appropriate
to undertake appropriate risk-based enforcement action, where necessary

Audit Risk Assessment Scheme
The FSA, in conjunction with the MHS, and in consultation with industry, has developed an audit risk assessment scheme for meat establishments subject to veterinary control. This scheme uses risk criteria set out in the food hygiene legislation.
The scheme comprises two parts:

risk factors relating to the establishments which are determined by activities and nature of the food business (these are fixed scores depending on the risk of the nature and activities of the business, so a higher final score may be a consequence of the establishment's higher risk activities and does not necessary reflect the performance of the FBO)
risk factors relating to the FBOs' actions (these are based on the FBOs' actions and compliance with statutory requirements)

A score is awarded for each of the factors, with the total score determining the audit category and thus frequency of audit reporting for an establishment.

The audit categories
The audit categories and minimum audit frequencies are:

Audit category
Minimum audit frequency
I
At least once every 12 months
II
At least once every 8 months
III
At least once every 5 months
IV
At least once every 3 months
V
At least once every 2 months

Note: The way the scheme operates means that in slaughterhouses and cutting plants audits will be completed at least once every eight months (i.e. category II is the highest level those premises can reach).

OV attendance at meat establishments
Audits are carried out by Official Veterinarians (OVs).
In slaughterhouses, the OVs are present every day the establishment operates. In addition to their audit role OVs are responsible for ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections. They will complete an audit report at a frequency determined by the audit category.

In meat establishments without regular OV attendance, announced visits will be undertaken for audit purposes.

Audit reports
Audits include a review of the factors that determine the establishment's audit category. FBOs are told of the findings at the end of each audit and then receive a written report. After allowing time for a review, if requested by the FBO, the audit report is finalised. Once a final audit report has been produced, the confirmed audit category will be published on this website.

Publication of audit categories
The tables list the currently available audit category for slaughterhouses, cutting plants and game handling establishments throughout the United Kingdom. Establishments are listed in alphabetical order of their trading name by type and location (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

These publications are saved in PDF format. To read them you will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available free of charge from the (External) Adobe website

For general comments, queries or suggestions, please contact:
Freddie Lachhman
Audit Categories Editor
Fifth Floor
Room 5B
Aviation House
125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH
Tel: 020 7276 8384
Fax: 020 7276 8362
Email: freddie.lachhman@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

For queries from FBOs in England, Scotland and Wales, please contact the MHS Operations Support Unit in York on 01904 455 408.

For queries from FBOs in Northern Ireland, please contact DARD's Food Policy Division in Belfast on 028 9052 4896.

Fairness and Consistency
All assessment methods have an element of subjectivity when individual judgement is involved. A number of measures have been taken to ensure that audit assessments are as objective as possible, and are used fairly and consistently in all meat establishments. These include:

Audit Guidance
A description of the scheme, the audit process and guidance notes for auditors on the criteria for each aspect assessed are contained in Chapter 4 of the MHS Manual for Official Controls (MoC) and DARD's VPHU Manual for Official Controls. A description of the scheme, the audit process and guidance notes for each aspect assessed are contained in Chapter 4 of the MHS Manual for Official Controls (MoC) and in Chapter 4 of DARD VPHU's corresponding manual, the VPHU Manual for Official Controls.
Audit of the MHS
MHS compliance with their instructions, including those relating to audit, are themselves subject to internal audit and to external audit by the Local Authority Liaison Division of the Food Standards Agency. Further details and results are published in the MHS Annual Audit Report.
Audit of DARD
DARD VPHU compliance with their instructions, including those relating to audit are themselves subject to internal audit and external audit by the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland. Further details and results are published in the VPHU Annual Report to the FSA-NI and the FSA-NI Audit Report.
Review of Audit Arrangements
The audit arrangements are new and may need to be reviewed in the light of experience. Any review will be in consultation with industry and other stakeholders.

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Meat establishment audit categories

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