Food Standards Agency's proposed approach to retained EU food law for food and feed safety and hygiene - Which? response

Which? welcomes this opportunity to comment on the proposed approach to retained EU law for food and feed safety and hygiene after the UK leaves the EU. It is important that the UK and EU reach an agreement that enables continued co-operation and sharing of expertise on food and feed safety after EU exit. This includes a close working relationship with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

We agree that leaving the EU requires clarification of how responsibilities currently carried out by EU bodies will be dealt with after exit. We agree that risk assessment should be the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). It will need to increase its capacity and review its processes for independence and transparency to ensure it does this effectively. We do not however agree with the assumption that risk management responsibility should fall to Ministers. The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and horsemeat crises emphasised the need for food safety risk management to be based on independence, transparency and a consumer first approach.

Risk management should therefore also be the responsibility of the FSA in line with its existing statutory duty, but with a functional separation from its risk assessment work.