A MAJOR meeting organised by the Ulster Farmers’ Union will be held today to address the horse meat scandal.
The union will host talks with the Livestock and Meat Commission, Consumer Council, NI Independent Retailers’ Association, British Retail Consortium and the NI Food and Drink Association, at its Belfast headquarters in an effort to secure the local agri-food sector against the crisis.
At the meeting, UFU representatives will be putting forward three proposals to protect consumer confidence in local produce. They are calling on retailers and the food service sector to fully commit to the NI Farm Quality Assurance Scheme for beef so that consumers can be categorically assured on the provenance and quality of their food.
The union are also proposing that the NI Farm Quality Assurance Scheme beef should now become a compulsory requirement in the public procurement process for local schools, hospitals and prisons.
A third proposal from the UFU says that farmers should not be asked to pay for any additional costs which emerge as a result of the scandal, such as the cost of additional DNA testing in the food chain.
President of the union Harry Sinclair said: “While the mood among farmers is still one of anger that the red meat sector has been dragged into this horse meat scandal, there is also the need to press ahead and make a better food chain.
“The benefits of a short supply chain and farm quality assured produce have been clearly demonstrated in this scandal and decisions should now be made by processors, retailers and Government to make a much greater commitment to our local farm quality assured produce. Farmers also have a genuine concern that extra procedures introduced to the food chain such as DNA testing will come at a cost and as has happened so often in the past, retailers and processors will simply protect their margins and pass the cost back to farmers.”