Chamber and committees

This area is a returning agenda point in my conversations with Geoff Ogle. As I mentioned, about 22 per cent of the regulated products service’s time is spent on 10-year renewals. That reduces FSS’s capacity to deal with new product authorisation in a reasonable timeline. We are expecting more than 300 products to come back over the next two years. The reforms are going some way to steady the state of things, to ensure that we have the right resource to put into the new horizon-scanning areas.

It is important to recognise that the change allows us to bring regulation of those products in line with that for other food and feed products that we regulate, and that Food Standards Scotland maintains the power to consider any product authorisation that is needed at any time. That has been part of the work that Food Standards Scotland and the FSA have been doing together to direct the right resource to the right areas, to ensure that we have robust population health and safety through food standards.

The process that has been worked on collaboratively by Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency allows for what you have just set out. Food safety is key. Because so many new products are coming on to the market, we must ensure that we can give consumers, and the businesses that use those standards, the right scientific evidence and data to know that products are safe. I am pleased that the work, which has been going on for a number of years, has been a true collaboration approach between the two food standards agencies in GB. They worked consistently through the different options and took ideas to their boards at the same time. It was a truly collaborative way of working and one that I was really pleased to see.

It is fair to say that all the products that would be affected by the changes that we are talking about were rigorously reviewed for safety through the EU. We have worked with the FSA, but we still horizon scan to ensure that we are matching the EU’s standards as well.

Greig, can you add a wee bit about the work that is being done with the EU?

One key reason for the change is to allow Food Standards Scotland to ensure that it has the capacity to look ahead and do horizon scanning, looking at risk rather than timespans. I have been having conversations for almost the past two years with Geoff Ogle, the chief executive of Food Standards Scotland. We meet fortnightly to understand areas of concern or risk in Scotland’s entire food landscape.

You are absolutely correct. Both Food Standards Scotland and the FSA concluded in their safety assessments that there are no safety concerns when Bovaer is used at the approved dose. As you have said, all feed additives are rigorously tested with safety assessments, which ensures that the products are safe. Businesses must demonstrate that the additive is safe for the animal, consumers, workers and the environment.

The key thing is to recognise that FSS and the FSA are moving towards a risk-based way of looking at food standards and additives. That is consistent with what is happening in other areas. It is important to recognise that, when there is a finite resource, it is necessary to make decisions about where best to put that. If you are set up to check something every 10 years, you might miss a risk assessment that has come through, because you might think, “Well, I don’t have to look at that one till later.”

However, we are now putting in the resource to ensure that FSS captures all risk assessments on different products to ensure that, as new evidence emerges on a specific product that could result in authorisation being modified, suspended or stopped, that process will be maintained. FSS has a very clear and transparent risk framework, which it monitors regularly. It will pick up any risks in relation to products to ensure that they are properly checked and that the evidence, data and science on them are captured.

As I have said in previous answers, the work that Food Standards Scotland does is a continuum. It is always horizon scanning and checking where new risks may arise. The proposed change will allow the resource that went on a 10-year process to be allocated as needed as new products come in.

Another thing that it is important to recognise is the fact that there will be transparency. Although there will not be a statutory instrument on this, there will be a register of items, so it will be fully transparent which products have been checked. That is important to recognise. I will bring in Georgina Finch.

I think that it is fair to say that, as has been noted on a number of occasions just in this past half hour, Food Standards Scotland is robust and has people’s respect. I again underline that any authorisation decisions are underpinned by robust evidence that is based on scientific and technical scrutiny through both Food Standards Scotland and the FSA. That is open and transparent, and risk assessments are published and publicly available. That is very important when we are talking about food standards and safety.

When I have been discussing the issue with Food Standards Scotland, which has been happening over the past couple of years, the spotlight has always been on the future—that is, on what could happen. In my discussions, it has always been clear that what we need to do with the resource is ensure that we can carry out horizon scanning, and that we can work with international scientists and gather data and evidence from countries around the world to make sure that we have the best and the highest food standards in Scotland.

I am pleased that Food Standards Scotland’s work is, as Ms Harper noted, well respected. It is also transparent, which is key. People are able to access Food Standards Scotland’s website to see the work that has been taking place. The proposed change does nothing to change any of that—it just enforces what we are doing.

The Scottish Government works closely with local authorities and with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland on that. We invest about £3 million into that work and also £50,000 to ensure that we have that relationship.

One of the important things about the bill is the fact that it is across the four nations. The UK Government has invested £100 million over five years to support HM Revenue and Customs and border control to ensure that we can reduce the amount of illicit products coming in.

Enforcement is important and that is the work that we continue to do and have great conversations about with local authorities. We also have the register of tobacco and nicotine vapour product retailers in Scotland, which helps us. It includes every retailer that sells cigarettes and other nicotine products, so we can get that information from them as well.