ASPIRATIONS

TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

Our aspiration is to build a competent and sustainable workforce to facilitate food imports and exports, ensure businesses are supported and to maintain public health protections by::  

  • Quantifying the scale of the workforce crisis
  • Reviewing current routes to competency
  • Exploring the adequacy of current training provision and alternative routes to competency, including the need for additional modules to existing qualifications and a new bespoke, holistic qualification for those providing assurance on imports and exports, including high risk foods of animal origin and high risk foods not of animal origin
Food imports from EU via short straights- new food safety risks for UK consumers

COLLABORATION

We are committed to working collaboratively with key stakeholders and will:                      

  • Be proactive in identifying those with an interest in our work
  • Explore practical and proportionate solutions based on the experience of our members
  • Ensure any proposals are sustainable, deliverable and cost effective

AWARENESS

  • We are committed to ensuring imported foods meet the UK’s high standards and risks associated with food are reduced.  Import controls provide official assurance that imports meet these standards but it is acknowledged that additional resources are required to maintain these standards. We will work to increase awareness of:

    • Food safety risks
    • Biosecurity risks
    • Public health risks
    • Food crime, food fraud
    • The “real cost” of incidents
    • How the absence of checks may attract illegal trade  

ACCESS TO SUITABLY QUALIFIED COMETENT STAFF

It is clear that the current workforce places an over reliance on those who qualify outside the UK. This is no longer sustainable or cost effective.   A new, modern, fit for purpose and flexible workforce is required with defined competencies relating to food safety, biosecurity and public health. All options must be explored including upskilling the existing workforce and the challenge of attracting new recruits.

There is a need to create the mechanism to train workforce able to deal  with food safety, public health and biosecurity emergencies instantly and to be available at short notice. 

As it become apparent during the Covid19 pandemic, the Environmental health workforce readily stepped in to assist communities in national crisis. 
In many cases Environmental health professionals  took  a lead in interventions and coordinating the emergency response. 
Covid 19 pandemic highlighted, that there is a need for the  resource available for other emergencies. 
Food safety risks can emerge from using ingredience and materials unfit for human consumption or otherwise injurious to human health. The absence of border checks combined with the cost of living crisis and energy price hiking can be a critical combination
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