At least one abattoir in NI has increased the vet fee deducted from farmers for animals at slaughter, with the prospect that others will follow, sources in the trade have confirmed.It is understood that ABP Linden is among the first to increase the charge, with the deduction rising nearly £2/head. An extra 50p is also being removed for insurance, with factories having previously raised concerns at the high number of TB-infected cattle being presented at abattoirs and subsequently skipped by meat inspectors as not fit for human consumption.
At least one abattoir in NI has increased the vet fee deducted from farmers for animals at slaughter, with the prospect that others will follow, sources in the trade have confirmed.
It is understood that ABP Linden is among the first to increase the charge, with the deduction rising nearly £2/head. An extra 50p is also being removed for insurance, with factories having previously raised concerns at the high number of TB-infected cattle being presented at abattoirs and subsequently skipped by meat inspectors as not fit for human consumption.
Other factories contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal have said it is “inevitable” they will have to follow a similar path.
Controls
The entire abattoir sector in NI is facing increased meat inspection costs. The controls here are undertaken by DAERA veterinary service on behalf of the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The standard hourly rate for an official veterinarian (OV), charged to abattoirs from April 2023, was £50.86 and this increased to £55.86 from April 2024. Over the same period, the hourly rate for a meat inspector rose from £32.88 to £34.53.
However, the FSA has warned that there is “the potential to see some significant cost increases in the next financial year”, due to wage price inflation and the wider shortage of vets.
Discounts
It is also currently seeking views on whether a system of discounts it applies to meat sector businesses represents value-for-money for government.
Those discounts are applied across six bands and effectively act to protect small businesses that have low throughput over which to spread their meat inspection costs.
In the first band, a discount of 85% is applied, but for the top band (a large slaughter plant) this discount is only 2%. Businesses in bands three to six have seen these discount rates gradually reduced in recent years.
In the last financial year, these discounts were worth £2.3m to the NI meat industry.
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