UK meat processors could soon be paying fees for plant inspections, if the food regulator's board this week approves proposals to do so.

The board of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) meets on 19 July in Cardiff to consider the final report on recommendations to reorganise the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) to make it more efficient.

The meat industry is more heavily regulated in the UK than the rest of the food industry and current meat hygiene controls cost the British tax payer about £30m (€44m) per year, according to the FSA.

Quick frozen foods should be subject to more prescriptive safety rules rather than optional ones, the EU's member states said in comments on a draft international code of practice.

The comments by the 27 member states were published yesterday on a draft Codex Alimentarius food safety code for those who process and handle quick frozen products.

Codex agreements, once passed, are used as an international reference point for harmonising national legislation worldwide.