DEFRA publishes farm inspections guide for England
DEFRA has published a new guide to farm inspections in England following recommendations made by the Farming Regulation Task Force report.
According to the task force report, many farmers consider farm inspections as “time-consuming and unnecessary”.
As a result, the 42-page DEFRA guide aims to explain to farmers why and how they are being inspected.
A DEFRA spokeswoman said: “Farm inspections help to uphold Britain’s global reputation for high animal welfare standards, environmental protection and food safety.
“We want to make sure that they can be carried out effectively with as little burden as possible, and have worked with farmers to produce a new guide that makes clear exactly what they should expect. This is part of our work to implement the recommendations of the Farming Regulation Task Force.”
There are seven DEFRA agencies which visit farms, as well as local authorities and the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
In the 2011-12 financial year, there were 31,500 planned inspections of the kind the guide deals with at 128,000 registered farms in England.
In addition to planned inspections, there were also 61,370 disease surveillance visits, 12,460 visits which farmers requested for advice, and 5,050 visits investigating a complaint.
The independent Farming and Regulation Task Force published a report in May 2011 in which it suggested more than 200 ways of cutting red tape for farmers.
The publication of the new guide is part of DEFRA’s response to the report and its aim is to simplify farming regulations and make farming policies “more consistent, effective and transparent”.