Earned Recognition: Primary Authority and Third Party

Assurance Schemes

Sharon Egan, Enforcement Strategy and Research,

Enforcement and Local Authority Division

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Compliance and Enforcement Strategy

• Developing a strategic approach to support implementation and set enforcement priorities in the revised FSA Strategy 2010-2015

• Aim is consistent approach to compliance and enforcement across foodchain by all regulators

• Clearer direction and leadership.

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Compliance and Enforcement Strategy

• Key Principles– Target interventions on areas where there is

higher risk– More emphasis tackling non-compliance– Greater recognition of business’ own means of

securing compliance– Increased transparency of standards – Use of wider incentives and penalties that drive

compliance– Consistent risk based controls across foodchain

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The Government's strategy is to:

• remove or simplify existing regulations that unnecessarily impede growth

• reduce the overall volume of new regulation by introducing regulation only as a last resort

• improve the quality of any remaining new regulation

• move to less onerous and less bureaucratic enforcement regimes where inspections are targeted and risk-based

• In April 2010, the Prime Minister said: "I want us to be the first government in modern history to leave office having reduced the overall burden of regulation, rather than increasing it."

The Strategy Themes: Overview

• Improved overview and understanding of risks associated with Food Businesses

• Improved risk based regulation

• Improved overview and understanding of risks associated with Food Businesses

• Improved risk based regulation

Assessing risk

• Use risk based approaches to monitor compliance to deliver efficiencies and free up resources to tackle key risks

• Use risk based approaches to monitor compliance to deliver efficiencies and free up resources to tackle key risks

Earned Recognition

• Current approach based on monitoring, education and support can be enhanced through better targeting

• An understanding of drivers of compliance in businesses and making greater use of these in our interventions and initiatives.

• Current approach based on monitoring, education and support can be enhanced through better targeting

• An understanding of drivers of compliance in businesses and making greater use of these in our interventions and initiatives.

Changing FBO behaviour

• Increase FBO perceptions of the likelihood & consequences of detection

• Tougher on persistent/high risk non-compliance

• Increase FBO perceptions of the likelihood & consequences of detection

• Tougher on persistent/high risk non-compliance

Tackling non-compliance

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Earned Recognition 1

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• Use risk based approaches to monitor compliance.• Better efficiency and free up resources to better tackle

key risks• Capitalise on assurance schemes • Removes duplication between public sector and

industry’s own checks• Modern Regulation- removing regulatory burdens and

encouraging self regulation- strategic outcome• Supports FSA strategy outcome- that responsibility for

compliance lies with FBOs

Earned Recognition 2

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• Key area for delivery of the strategy• Earned Recognition is about reducing the frequency or

different interventions in low risk / compliant businesses• Improve the targeting of regulator state resources to

higher risk/non-compliant businesses• Better efficiency and free up resources to better tackle key

areas and serious or persistent non-compliance• At core of all ER approaches- OCs are always delivered

by competent authorities, OCs are non-delegable from CA• Regulator respond to reactive regulation- incidents,

complaints, intelligence-led.

Earned Recognition: Primary (/ Home) Authority

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• Mechanism to deliver improved co-ordination and consistency

• Provides for a ‘national’ approach to England and Wales chains

• In retail and catering pilot• Aim is to deliver efficiency and effectiveness in

regulation of the PAS food business• Evidence- FBO, LAs and FSA and analysis provides

rationale for approach to programmed inspection• Regulator respond to reactive regulation- incidents,

complaints, intelligence-led.

Earned Recognition: Primary Authority

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• Inspection plans and Earned Recognition Rationale Document.

• Hygiene and Standards• PA check verify central systems• Eg supermarket- full and open access internal data

systems- daily, weekly and monthly checks, regular in-house and external audit reports.

• Sound evidence basis.• Cross-reference for analysis- FHRS, Helpline, Incidents

data (if possible) • Company also provide customer complaints, LA

interventions

Earned Recognition: Primary Authority

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• IP kept up to date and reactive- vehicle for dissemination information

• All interventions feedback- inspection and reactive interventions

• May include specific topics re FBO (date coding, temperature checks) or address national strategic priorities (eg Campylobacter/Listeria of FDS, E. coli guidance)

• IP broadly sets out to test implementation of the central FSMS.

• Address training, FSMS description, non-conformances

• RAG necessary to verify

• ERRD provides basis- FSA review

Earned Recognition in Dairy Hygiene• A baseline 24 months inspection frequency for farms supplying raw milk for

pasteurisation• Subject to the caveats, dairy farms with membership of the Red Tractor

Assurance Dairy (RTAD) scheme will benefit from an extended official inspection frequency of 10 years

• Dairy farms producing raw drinking milk for human consumption will be subject to official inspection at a frequency of 6 months.

• Ad hoc inspections will be carried out in response to adverse findings or notifications from official inspection, RTAD audit, third parties or first purchasers of raw milk.

• RTAD farms known to supply raw milk to manufacturers of unpasteurised dairy product will not benefit from an extended official inspection frequency.

• Those RTAD members subject to formal official action, or suspension from the RTAD scheme, will not benefit from an extended official inspection frequency.

• In the first year of the amended controls official inspections will focus on those dairy farms judged as least compliant under the previous official controls regime.

• The new arrangements will be reviewed after a period of three years

Earned Recognition in Dairy Hygiene

Dairy Hygiene DatabaseRTADDB

FSA

DHIS

FSA e-mail

DHIS e-mail

FSARTADSPortal

Monthly re-fresh

Non-compliances

Non-compliances

Read only

Read only

Scope of the Scheme

Apply monthly updates

Read only

Read and update

Earned Recognition: Third Party Assurance Schemes

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• Approach already established in primary production hygiene

• IPPC pilot poultry pig farms one year.• Dairy farm consultation- use ADF scheme membership to

inform risk and inspection frequency in medium-low risk only.

• Must address regulations, information sharing pre-requisite. • Checks with scheme, CBs and ‘random’ inspections. • SMEs?• Regulator respond to reactive regulation- incidents,

complaints, intelligence-led.

Earned Recognition Common Safeguards and Checks

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• Meet requirements of 882.• Openness and trust- data sharing• A percentage checked annually by unannounced

inspection- is the system working as intended?• High level governance• Evidence and intelligence based• UKAS accredited CBs- impartial, competent and

accountable• ER can be awarded, it can also be removed- a reactive

system if it isn’t protecting consumers

Earned Recognition Consumer views

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• ‘Who checks the checkers?...’• ‘Earned Recognition should not be inherited...’.• ‘We don’t need to have stickers up showing what and how

they earn ER...’*• ‘SMEs shouldn’t be disadvantaged’

- Broadly content with the outline proposal- checks and

balances described were important.

- The fact that inspections are paid for or internal to FBO

is not a barrier.

(* but some wanted to know)

Delivery: Code of Practice Review

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• Delivered by 2013.• Some changes incorporated ahead of that - RANs

extension, competency framework.• RDNA work led by CIEH and TSI, with LBRO facilitating

through world class coalition and FSA input.• ‘Core’ modules and ‘petal’ specialties.• Trialled across range of authorities, goes live October.• Future- evaluation and linking to Food authorisation. • Future-proof- allow for incorporation if positive outcomes

from pilots such as AGMA/GMPPP.

Next Steps

• Joint development of the model, including delivery plans/options.

• Ongoing cost/benefit analysis, impact assessments• Aim is for formal consultation to commence, informed by

pilot outcomes.• Post-consultation there will be joint development of

business /implementation plans for the strategy. • Aim is UK wide policy. Although implementation is a

devolved matter, seeking consistency in approach.

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Questions for today

• Are there other elements we should consider in ER?

• Does it fit with your thinking on service delivery?

• What are keys risks?

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O unicorn among the cedars To whom no magic charm can lead us,

White childhood moving like a sigh Through the green wods unharmed in

thySophisticated innocence...

-- W. H. Auden

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Thank You

Comments? Please email:ces@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk