The Government wants to privatise its high-quality meat inspection service ignoring the impact it will have on food quality and safety in announcements being made to meat inspectors.

The Ministry for Primary Industries is proposing to allow meat processing companies to carry out more of their own meat inspection work with reduced oversight from AsureQuality, the Government’s meat inspection service. AsureQuality employs some 650 meat inspectors who carry out meat inspection on 27 million animals at 65 meat processing facilities every year.

Hundreds of highly qualified and experienced AsureQuality meat inspectors could face the axe, with many forced to transfer to the private sector with lower wages and poorer conditions.

"This is all about privatising a trusted and valuable service which ensures New Zealand consumers can buy safe, high-quality meat with confidence," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

"The work of meat inspectors ensures that disease and defects in products are identified and that meat is fit for human consumption.

"Independent meat inspectors are more rigorous because they have no vested interest in the end product and will not cut corners to increase company profits. Our overseas markets and consumers here at home will miss out if we lose the independence of our meat inspection services.

"This is just more of the same deregulation agenda we are seeing across health and other parts of the public service.

"History tells us who wins from deregulation, business. This proposal is all about boosting the profits of meat companies while dismantling a proven, efficient and independent government owned service that keeps New Zealanders safe from diseased and contaminated meat.

"Meat inspectors also play a critical role in underpinning New Zealand’s global reputation for excellence in all we export.

"Why put all that at risk?

"The Government's priorities are again clear - it scrapped pay equity, making underpaid women pay for tax cuts for business in the Budget and it's doing the same here, forcing meat inspectors to take a cut in wages to boost the bottom line of meat companies.

"This government has no shame in its reckless pursuit of ideology over the consequences for New Zealanders as we again fail to learn the lessons from the past."

Note

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

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