During the first eight months of the year, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority detected regulatory violations in more than half of its inspections. The violations were most frequent on farms with cattle.
From New Year’s to the end of August, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority inspected 1,971 livestock farms. The inspection revealed breaches of rules in 53% of the cases, the authority stated in a press release.
However, it emphasizes that the proportion of violations must be assessed in light of the fact that animal husbandry, which the authority believes is at the greatest risk of poor animal welfare, is supervised more often than others.
Cattle farms
The proportion of breaches of the regulations was highest in cattle farms, with breaches in 69% of the cases.
“Although there are few serious violations of the law among these, the high proportion of violations in cattle production is something the Norwegian Food Safety Authority takes seriously,” section manager for animal welfare in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Torunn Knævelsrud, stated.
The authority has stepped up the proportion of unannounced audits. 67% of the audits were not notified in advance.
“Unannounced inspections are important for us to see the actual conditions in a livestock farm. EU regulations say that unannounced inspections should be the main rule,” Knævelsrud said.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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