FSA to discuss Border Target Operating Model from Welsh perspective

10-May-2023 - Last updated on 10-May-2023 at 14:21 GMT

The FSA will discuss the BTOM from a Welsh perspective. Source: Alasdair James/Getty Images

Tomorrow, 11 May, the Welsh Food Advisory Committee, which is part of the Food Standards Authority (FSA), will discuss the new Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), a government document which will determine food safety standards between the UK and the rest of the world.

The meeting, which will take place at Southgate House in Cardiff, will discuss the impact of the Border Target Operating Model on Welsh trade.

An advisory meeting

The meeting will explore how the BTOM will impact Wales. “The Welsh Food Advisory Committee (WFAC) was formed to ‘provide advice or information to the Agency on matters connected with its functions,’ including matters affecting or otherwise related to Wales,” an FSA spokesperson told FoodNavigator.

“The WFAC is an advisory, rather than a decision-making body and convenes in four public meetings a year themed around areas of particular or emerging focus for the FSA.

“This allows the committee to consider and explore the theme (BTOM in this instance) from a Wales perspective, raise relevant questions and observations to be considered by the relevant FSA officials and broaden their understanding of the theme in question to inform future discussions on the matter.

“In addition, for this meeting, colleagues from the Welsh Government, who are leading on BTOM policy and implementation for Wales, will be present to provide an overview, answer questions and guide the discussion as necessary and capture all insight provided by the WFAC.”

They will also discuss the FSA’s development to the creation of the BTOM.

An agreement that will impact trade

The Border Target Operating Model is a document that outlines which food products will be considered high, medium, and low risk when being checked at the border between the UK and the rest of the world.

The decision on the level of risk presented by food products will be decided according to both the type of product and the location from which it comes.

Since the UK left the European Union (EU), much of the responsibility for food standards that previously resided with that institution have gone to the UK.

“Last year the FSA’s annual report on food standards concluded that establishing full UK import controls for high-risk food and feed from the EU by the end of 2023 must be a priority,” said FSA chair Susan Jebb.

“This reflected our concern that the longer the UK operates without assurances that EU products meet our high safety standards, the less confident we can be that we can effectively identify potential safety incidents.

“We therefore strongly support the introduction of risk-based controls on food and feed coming into the UK from the EU. We also welcome an imports regime that is consistent for food and feed whether it comes from the EU or the rest of the world.”