This weekend, Matís hosted a meeting on the possibility of direct trade in home-slaughtered meat and the importance of risk assessment in that context. The meeting was held in Miðgarður in Skagafjörður and was very well attended, as it is clear that there is great interest among farmers to slaughter on their farms and sell the products in direct trade to consumers.
Among the speakers was Andreas Hensel, President of the German Risk Assessment Agency BfR. In Andreas 'case, it was stated, among other things, that various exemptions are in force in Germany for farmers' direct trade, including the sale of unpasteurized milk at the so-called "Milchhaltestelle" on farms. At the same time, monitoring of farmers' slaughter of lambs under the age of three months is kept to a minimum, as the risk to consumers is assessed as low. Direct trade in the products of those hinges is not subject to restrictions in excess of traditional products. The basis for obtaining such exemptions was the availability of scientific risk assessments and measures to minimize risks, such as training farmers in slaughtering and handling meat products.
Other speakers were Freydís Dana Sigurðardóttir, director of livestock control at the Food Administration, Atli Már Traustason, farmer at Höfdälar, Þröstur Heiðar Erlingsson, farmer at Birkihlíð and Hrönn Jörundsdóttir, director of Matís. Lively discussions following the presentations reflected the great interest of farmers and the importance of facilitating direct trade in home-slaughtered meat.
The broadcast of the meeting can be accessed on Matís' Facebook page. In the next few days, the content of the meeting will be better explained, but following it, the employees of Matís and Matvælastofnun decided to work together on the progress of the case.
For more information Hrönn Jörundsdóttir, 858-5112.
Here you can see a recording from the meeting.
And slides from the meeting can be found below: