The Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland
command a wide remit across public health, agricultural,
environmental and disease control aspects of food
standards.
With the prospect of the SPS Agreement in the offing, MPs on the
EFRA Committee are keen to understand how the two organisations
manage their core functions across different governments and
their respective departments. Some responsibilities currently sit
with the Department for Health and Social Care as well as
DEFRA.
One imminent challenge will be the forthcoming SPS Agreement, an
agri-food deal which will establish a UK-EU Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Zone. Since the UK left the EU, the organisations
have expanded to absorb new responsibilities. MPs will explore
how the agencies are prepared and resourced to implement the
outcomes of negotiations with the EU by the planned conclusion of
2027.
From November 2025, the agri-tech sector will be able to apply
for authorisation to grow, sell and import precision-bred seeds,
plants, food and feed. This is a way of changing the DNA of
plants or animals in a precise way using techniques including
gene-editing.
Although The Genetic Technology
(Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 set out the
requirements of the new regulatory framework, the secondary
legislation to implement the act for animals has not been laid.
MPs will explore the development of draft guidance and understand
the impact of this England-only legislation to the rest of the
UK.
The Committee will press the food standards agencies on their
responsibilities regarding illegal personal meat imports,
following their recent reports on biosecurity at the border. The
Government's food strategy, published in July, will also be up
for discussion.
Witnesses on 21 October:
At 10am:
- Katie Pettifer, Chief Executive, Food Standards Agency
- Geoff Ogle, Chief Executive, Food Standards Scotland
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- In September, the EFRA Committee published two reports on
biosecurity at the border. The first covered illegal personal imports
of meat and animal products. The second focused on commercial trade and
the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model
(BTOM).
