Imported food sampling and surveillance grants

The Food Standards Agency has been working with local authorities across the UK to improve the controls over imported foods entering the country.

As part of this programme of work, since 2003 the Agency has provided around £5.4 million to support port health authorities and inland local authorities in their sampling and surveillance of imported food. This is part of a cross-government initiative to achieve a step change improvement in imported food controls and aims to support authorities in their sampling and surveillance of imported foods.

The objective for this initiative is to improve overall food sampling and surveillance for imported food generally. The work aims to provide better information to assist in future sampling programmes as well as using local knowledge about imported food priorities along with the priorities considered by the Sampling Co-ordination Working Group.

In addition, this initiative brings added value to local authorities that already carry out effective, routine sampling as part of their sampling policy. The funding available provided by this programme covers the costs of sample collection and analysis, and represents additional work over and above the local authority’s current work programme.

Details of the past bids, including the final reports, can be found at the links below. Any issues highlighted in the reports will have been taken forward by the relevant local authority.