The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) has announced that it has launched a judicial review, challenging the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) decision to raise its charges in 2026.
FSA charges to industry will go up by £10 million in the coming year, said AIMS, which it said was a 24% increase to the industry as a whole when inflation is 3%.
The hourly rate for an official veterinarian (OV) will increase from April by 20.8% to £79.60 an hour or £165,500 a year.
“Because industry does not believe FSA charges are lawful it has launched a judicial review, funded by the whole industry.”
Peter Hewson, AIMS
Peter Hewson, veterinary director at the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS), commented: “The FSA blames an increase in contractor costs and reduced number of chargeable hours, whilst at the same time reducing its discount by over £3 million.
“We have been pressing the Agency to introduce the obvious efficiencies available in view of the reduced requirement and limited value of official controls in slaughterhouses, but the FSA has flatly refused to engage while it played with changes to a discount system that should not be required if FSA charges were lawful.
“Because industry does not believe FSA charges are lawful it has launched a judicial review, funded by the whole industry, which will be heard in the High Court in April.”
Food Standards Agency responds
FSA said it would be meeting industry representative bodies on 26th February to present its 2026/27 meat charges to them and “provide an opportunity for discussion”, before publishing documents relating to the new charges on its website.
It highlighted that this year the meat industry received £14.9 million in discount support, and next year (2026/27) this will be £11.8 million. FSA labelled this a “significant taxpayer contribution” of around 18% towards total estimated charges of £66 million.
Junior Johnson, director of operations at the FSA, said: “The judicial review is before the court and will be heard in April.
“In the meantime, our priority remains ensuring that British meat is safe, protecting public health, and upholding high standards of animal welfare, helping to ensure people have confidence in the food they eat.”
