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Press Release

Food Standards Agency reorganisation - BRC reaction

20 July 2010

It’s essential technical expertise is not lost as some of the responsibilities of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are transferred to government departments.

Reacting to the Government’s announcement today (Tuesday) that some responsibilities in England will be transferred to the Department of Health (DH) and the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), the British Retail Consortium said structures are less important than results.

British Retail Consortium Food Policy Director Andrew Opie said:” How Government chooses to allocate these responsibilities is not the priority.

“What matters to us is the end result for customers and businesses. Any Government changes must leave us with a structure that does as good a job for customers and businesses as the FSA has done in the past.

“Labelling and food composition are complex, technical issues that are crucial to food retailers. Thousands of the products they sell every day will be affected. Food labelling is a key issue for retailers. Currently, we’re in the middle of a fundamental European labelling review.

“It’s vital the high-level of expertise and collaborative approach that’s previously been available from the FSA is retained once responsibility for these issues has been transferred.

“UK-wide retailers need consistency. We’ve yet to hear how this will work In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Effective delivery of health and nutrition campaigns requires good co-ordination. Avoiding a fragmented food policy is now the challenge for government departments and the devolved assemblies.”



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British Retail Consortium

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