Improving imported food controls at Heathrow

Tuesday 5 July 2005

The Food Standards Agency is consulting on proposals to improve controls on imported food arriving at Heathrow Airport.

The key recommendation from an independent review of imported food controls at the airport is to make a single local authority responsible for all controls.

Heathrow lies within the boundaries of the London Borough of Hillingdon, which at present shares responsibility for the controls with four other local authorities, the London Borough of Hounslow, Slough Borough Council, Spelthorne Borough Council and Surrey County Council.

Under the new system a single designated local authority would be responsible for carrying out all food safety checks on imported high-risk items, for example chilli power and pistachio nuts.

The other local authorities would be responsible for carrying out routine checks only on low-risk goods of non-animal origin.

This recommendation was made by an independent consultant who carried out a review of controls at Heathrow on behalf of the FSA. The Agency has launched a consultation on the report's proposals.

A number of other recommendations were made in the report:

• The development of an IT system to enable importers to give prior notification of high-risk food entering the country. This will help the local authority for Heathrow target its checks.
• The appointment of an airport 'food and feed co-ordinator' to liaise between the local authority for Heathrow and the other local authorities. The two-year post would be funded by the Agency.

After the consultation has closed at the end of September, the Agency will present a paper to its Board on the options for taking the recommendations forward, based on comments from stakeholders.