Mersey Port Health Authority

Mersey Port Health Authority had responsibility for control of imported food of non-animal origin at both the Seaport and Airport. However, it was recognised that most of their workload related to imports through the Seaport and that there were very few commercial consignments of food of non animal origin coming through the Airport.

The Authority had systems that identified all declared consignments of food, were checking all manifests at the Seaport and had an effective electronic control system operated in conjunction with Customs, the port operators and other relevant bodies.

The approach to examination of imported food of non-animal origin was generally risk based. However, in some cases there was a lack of evidence to show that certain high-risk products subject to specific controls had always been identified as such and that documentary checks had been carried out in accordance with legislative requirements. Appropriate follow-up action generally appeared to have been taken in relation to unsatisfactory samples. However, there was some concern that sampling for analysis of products associated with a risk of contamination was not always carried out in accordance with official guidance.

The Authority had a scheme of delegation. However, they had not developed an authorisation procedure for the authorisation of officers and officers had not received written confirmation of their levels of authorisation based on their individual qualifications, training and experience.

It appeared that a significant amount of relevant legislation and official guidance relating to imported food law enforcement was not readily available to officers. There was a lack of evidence to confirm that there was an effective document control system for the review and issue of procedures and some procedures needed to be revised and others developed to cover the imported food control service.