Meat inspection costs ‐ a charge too far?

Presents the recent case of Woodspring District Council v. Bakers of Nailsea Ltd which has highlighted several contentious points of EU legislation for the meat industry, especially the cost of abattoir inspections. EU law states that these inspections should be carried out by official veterinary surgeons thus incurring great cost. Bakers of Nailsea contended that these inspections could have been done by qualified meat inspectors at a greatly reduced cost. Proposes that, although the judge ruled against Bakers of Nailsea, this case has implications for other similar cases. Discusses EU Directives and Regulations concerning food safety and hygiene.