Fears over future of small abattoirs due to costs

Small abattoirs in Cornwall could be forced out of business by rising costs of veterinary checks on them, those in the industry have warned.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been consulting on increasing fees and removing a discount scheme on the inspections.

Owners feared that would cost them tens of thousands of pounds extra a year and see more of them closing for good.

The government insisted it was committed to working with those in the industry to help them tackle the challenges they face.

Mark Rowe, who owns Trevarthen abattoir and butchers, in Roskrow, said his bills were due to go up by £70,000 because of the proposed changes.

He warned: "The legislation is forever changing and that means it's more of a cost towards a business. The costs just get more more each year and this is the reason why abattoirs are closing."

He said they were "up for the fight" of staying open - but warned others may not survive.

"The structure of the rural community is so fragile. The government needs to be looking at funding for the local abattoirs.

"They're not going to be around in a minute and then you're going to be talking about importing from the other side of the world," he added.

Kevin McFadden, who shut his small abattoir in St Just-in-Penwith a couple of years ago, said: "There's nobody opening up any new abattoirs.

"To open one now would probably be in excess of £2m-£3m and it ain't there because there's no real return on that money.

"So this isn't going to come back. When we lose these skills and when we lose these abattoirs - that's it.

"You can have your two or three acres, you can rear your animals, but there'll be nobody to kill them."

Andrew Body, from Lodge & Thomas auctioneers, which runs the livestock market in Truro, said: "They're essential because they create competition to ensure that market prices are achieved for cattle, sheep, and pigs.

"They also provide a service to the farming community who rear their own stock and then want them slaughtered - very often they've got a business doing a farm shop.

"If we didn't have them here this side of the market wouldn't survive. We need them and somehow they do need to be kept going."

A government spokesperson said: "Small abattoirs provide a competitive route to market for producers of rare and native breeds and we're committed to working with the meat processing sector in tackling the challenges they face.

"Our commitment to farming is steadfast and we're investing £5bn into the sector, the largest ever budget for sustainable food production, which will also help unlocking rural growth and boost farmers' profits."

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