Official controls review research contract awarded

The Food Standards Agency has contracted Hartley McMaster Ltd to develop an overview of the delivery of official controls for food and feed safety and standards. This research will provide a high level description of how local authorities and port health authorities across the UK monitor and secure business compliance with food and feed law.

The researchers will review existing data sources and carry out an analysis of the evidence available to identify gaps in data on official controls delivery. A number of local authorities and port health authorities will be asked to participate to test the feasibility of data collection.

A survey will then be sent out to all 434 local authorities and port health authorities to collect the high level data that is identified in the gap analysis. A full report, including survey results, will be published by March 2013.

This project is closely linked to an in-depth study of the delivery of official controls for food and feed that are carried out by local authorities and port health authorities. The Agency is currently inviting tenders on this research.

If you have any queries about the official control delivery review, please email: [email protected]

Related links

Review of official controls delivery – Read more about the review