Cutting services is a disaster waiting to happen.
Government Meat Inspectors are being dispensed with and responsibility entrusted to the freezing works and meat packing plants to do their own meat inspection.
The boning-out staff would not know what to look for in their innocence and pass contaminated products.
As a retired meat inspector responsible for passing sheep meat free of caseous-lymphadenitis and lymph nodes and hydatids. Cattle and pigs with TB. For export it was essential to know and understand what to look for.
In the long history of Government meat inspections in New Zealand there has never been a complaint. That ensured a high standard protecting the farm and valuable markets.
Bio-security has been severely pruned back. An example, the Kiwifruit industry brought to its knees with PSA. The Queensland fruit-fly now costing millions to eradicate. The Varroa Bee Mite causing heavy losses in that industry.
The danger of Foot and Mouth has been further exposed by reducing staff at Bio-Security. If this got into New Zealand immeasurable damage would occur.
The fore-going examples of cost cutting would eventually be detrimental to New Zealand.
Can't our ‘boofheaded' bureaucrats and politicians idiots look beyond their baubles of office and prestige of power?

Hugh McKay, Tauranga.