Supporting Economic Progress

Hampton Principle

Regulators should recognise that a key element of their activity will be to allow, or even encourage, economic progress and only to intervene when there is a clear case for protection.

Regulators' Compliance Code

To consider the impact that their regulatory interventions may have on economic progress and adopt an approach if the benefits justify the costs and entails he minimum burden compatible with achieving their objectives.
To keep under review their regulatory activities and interventions, removing or reducing the regulatory burdens they impose where appropriate.
To consider the impact that their regulatory interventions may have on the small regulated entities by giving consideration to the size of the entity and the nature of their activities.
To set standards or provide guidance which allow for reasonable variations in local government priorities as well as those of the devolved administrations

Simplification Plan

Animal Health made a significant contribution to Defra’s review of its regulatory activities and its subsequent Simplification Plan and is targeted to meet its contribution to the net decrease of 29% of regulatory burdens laid out in the plan.

Corporate and Business Plans

Both Animal Health’s five year Corporate and Annual Business Plans make frequent reference to Better Regulation and this is our guiding principle in developing plans to meet both our and the department’s Strategic Objectives.

Evidence of changes made to programmes, programmes delivered or ways in which activities are run that reflects the code:

Dairy Hygiene Inspections

A review of this Inspection Programme has resulted in better documentation and advice for the industry in the form of a ‘Practical Guide to Dairy Hygiene’ booklet and revised ‘Required Improvements’ documents. New simplified reports for producers have also been produced and a more robust risk assessment framework has reduced the number of primary inspections by 24% with a further significant reduction in the level of secondary inspections.

Export Certification

Following the lifting of the export ban after the FMD outbreak last year, AH worked with both Defra, the exporters and the industry to simplify and streamline the export certification process to facilitate the enable the industry to take advantage of the lucrative export markets especially for calves to other Member States