Livestock industries have agreed to work together to ensure the successful implementation of the Food Standard Agencyâs (FSA) Collection and Communication of Inspection Results (CCIR) across poultry, pig, beef and sheep sectors.
At the âInformation flow in the meat chainâ event, hosted by the pork and beef and sheep divisions of AHDB, formerly known as BPEX and EBLEX, it was acknowledged that a âone size fits allâ approach across sectors will not be practical, but there are clear advantages of working together.
The conference provided a good opportunity for the pig industry to reflect on what has been achieved and what more can be done towards an improved CCIR. Lessons learnt so far in that process, such as the importance of collaboration, were shared, as they will no doubt prove valuable to all sectors.
âIndustry stakeholders need to work together to ensure that a robust, reliable and respected data collection system is created and implemented,â explained Christine Walsh, AHDB Beef and Lamb supply chain development manager.
âWhile the pig and poultry industries have implemented CCIR relatively successfully, there is still work to be done and the beef and sheep sectors are a long way off yet, which is concerning.
âThe new data collection system presented by the FSA is an exciting development. However, in all sectors itâs clear that further research needs to be completed first.
âWe need to better understand the relevant data that needs to be captured in that process. From there we can then make decisions about how to better communicate the information back to producers, and the technology will follow,â said Christine.
âOver ÂŁ60million is lost to the English beef, sheep and pig sectors every year through animal illnesses such as pneumonia, pleurisy and liver fluke. By communicating post mortem inspection results to farmers, it will enable them to take action and improve their herd/flock health and productivity,â said Ouafa Doxon, AHDB Pork Health information and Food Safety Coordinator.
The next agreed step to help the industry move forward is to set up an FSA-led industry working group to outline a list of priority diseases that sheep and beef producers will find useful to have feedback on via the CCIR process, similar to the work done by the pig sector.
âItâs important that producers are involved in this process as we really need to understand what they want to know before we can go any further,â added Christine.
It was the first time that a joint sector event on this shared issue has been held and delegatesâ feedback was very positive, suggesting that a similar annual event would be well received.