Hourly rates for official veterinarians (OVs) and meat hygiene inspectors (MHIs) visiting abattoirs will increase for the 2025-2026 financial year.
The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) rise in charges will roll out from 1 April, a move set to add further financial strain on small and medium-sized abattoirs.
The hourly rate for OVs will rise by 17.7%, from £56 to £65.90, while the rate for MHIs will increase by 11.3%, from £38.80 to £43.20.
These charges apply to approved meat premises, including slaughterhouses, cutting plants, game handling establishments, on-farm slaughtering facilities, and cutting premises.
The FSA charges for staff resources on an hourly basis, with some variations for businesses operating shift work patterns.
Discounts on these official control costs are available, which will follow a sliding scale based on the number of chargeable hours each business requires.
Smaller meat businesses, which need fewer hours, are set to receive greater support with costs.
For 2025-2026, the smallest firms will continue to receive a 90% discount, while the largest businesses will receive a reduced discount of 2%.
Discount rates for businesses requiring the highest and lowest number of FSA hours will remain unchanged from 2024-2025.
However, mid-sized businesses will see a significant reduction in their discounts, dropping from 26% to 17% and from 14% to 6%, respectively.
Responding to the increases, the NFU said there needed to be more support for local abattoirs following recent closures around the country.
"The loss of local abattoirs also increases journey times, which adds cost and risks exacerbating animal travel time," the union said.
"The NFU is in conversation with the FSA, and supportive of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers and the British Meat Processors Association in calling for structural reform within the FSA before any increases in charges are considered.
"Otherwise we could see many more small and medium-sized abattoirs close if the discount scheme is removed and official costs increase."
There are now just over 200 abattoirs left in the country, following a huge decline from about 2,500 in the 1970s.
Over the past year, the collaborative effort to reverse the decline has been supported through government policies such as the Small Abattoir Fund.
