St Merryn Meats, part of the 2 Sisters Food Group, has been accused of breaching the processor code by increasing waste disposal charges on cattle slaughtered in their factory without giving farmer suppliers 12 weeks’ notice of the change.

The code, which was agreed between the processor trade association BMPA and the NFU last year, was intended to prevent sudden shocks to farmers.

However many of the large processing groups still haven’t endorsed the code, including Dunbia and Dawn who are still considering their position in relation to it.

The code makes provision for more sudden changes to be introduced in the case of force majeure, a sudden change in market conditions where processors simply couldn’t wait 12 weeks before making the change.

BMPA Director, Stephen Rossides has made this point when challenged about St Merryn failing to comply with the code.

HE said sudden increases in rendering charges had put the industry in a very difficult position and that during the negotiations last year the NFU had “broadly accepted” that a sudden increase in rendering charges would constitute force majeure.

St Merryn have held out on increasing charges much longer than most of their competitors.

However, the latest increase brings the combined deductions on a farmers sending an animal to their factory up to £19.20 or €26.30, dramatically higher than in Irish factories.

What is now referred to as waste disposal charges by factories started out life as a SRM charge introduced by the factories in the aftermath of BSE almost 20 years ago.

At that time products that were deemed to be connected to the animal’s brain in anyway were re-categorised from a revenue product to a waste that had to be disposed of at huge cost.