22 March 2016

ICSA beef chairman Edmond Phelan has expressed outrage at a new Post Mortem Contingency charge being imposed by a number of meat factories without consent or consultation. “This racket of various charges and levies is getting worse and it must stop. There has been no discussion of this at the beef forum and it is totally unacceptable.” The charge is being levied at €2.50 per head and is apparently justified for the provision of fluke reports on livers. 

“Fluke reports have always been provided without an extra charge given that farmers are already paying veterinary fees. This is an unwelcome new development and we are calling on the factories involved to stop this process immediately.” 

“Again, as with insurance charges, the actual fee looks totally out of line with the cost of what the farmer gets. An extra column on the factory docket hardly costs this amount of money and if the industry wants to rip off farmers then it should only done with informed consent in advance.”

Mr Phelan wants farmers who have noticed this charge to contact ICSA with a view to further action.  

ENDS