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English Cymraeg
Final report for the efficacy of withdrawals and recalls evaluation

Appendix A: Workstream objectives

Objectives for the Working group of each workstream outlined.

Table 1: Objectives for the Working Group of Workstream 1: Roles and Responsibilities

Objective number Details
Objective 1 Agree the areas to be included in the guidance, taking into account existing guidance by FSA/FSS and others.
Objective 2 Identify measures of success against which the work can be evaluated.
Objective 3 Utilise expertise with the group to develop and shape the guidance in accordance with agreed timelines.
Objective 4 Where possible, represent the position as seen in the various UK nations, highlighting variances where known.
Objective 5 Take account of interdependencies between Working Group 1 and the other project working groups:
  • Working Group 2 – accessible and consistent consumer information
  • Working Group 3 – improved trade to trade notifications
  • Working Group 4 – feedback loops and incident prevention
  • Working Group 5 – increased consumer awareness. 
Objective 6 Consult on the guidance and review comments from the consultation.
Objective 7 Consider how the guidance and its implementation should be evaluated. 

Table 2: Objectives for the Working Group of Workstream 2: Accessible and consistent consumer information

Objective number Details
Objective 1 The Working Group will oversee further evidence gathering with the food industry to better understand:
  • how industry currently communicates food recall information to consumers and to identify best practice; 
  • what is possible in relation to consumer engagement on food recalls;
  • any barriers that exist to develop best practice.
Objective 2 The Working Group will commission behavioural insight work with consumers to identify best practice (from the consumers perspective):
  • for consumer recall notifications in both content and style;
  • in relation to where these notifications should be placed in-store and online;
  • in relation to the relevant channels for active communication of the notifications.
Objective 3

The Working Group will develop best practice guidance that includes:

  • a template for consumer notifications
  • guidance on where notifications should be displayed (both in-store and digitally), and 
  • guidance on active consumer communications, taking into account new technologies/potential solutions. 

This will be underpinned by better understanding existing good practice in industry and where necessary piloting approaches to assess their effectiveness.

The Working Group will work with members of Workstream 1 as this guidance will form a section/sections of the overall Competent Authority guidance being developed through Workstream 1.

Objective 4 The Working Group will consult on the guidance and review comments from the consultation before final publication of the guidance. 
Objective 5 The Working Group will consider how the guidance and its implementation should be evaluated. 
Objective 6 The Working Group will review FSA and FSS food alerts templates to ensure they align with the key principles from the consumer insight, making recommendations for any change and considering best approaches for how these food alerts can be actively communicated to consumers.
Objective 7 The Working Group will identify measures of success against which the work can be evaluated.

Table 4: Objectives for the Working Group of Workstream 3: Improved trade to trade notifications

Objective number Details
Objective 1 The Working Group will commission insight work to identify best practice:
  • for B2B recall notifications in both content and style;
  • in relation to the preferred channels for active communication of the notifications.
Objective 2

The Working Group will develop best practice guidance that includes:

  • a template for B2B notifications
  • guidance on active B2B communications, taking account of new technologies/potential solutions. 
Objective 3 The Working Group will consult on the guidance and review comments from the consultation before final publication of the guidance.
Objective 4 The Working Group will consider how the guidance and its implementation should be evaluated.
Objective 5 The Working Group will identify measures of success against which the work can be evaluated.

Table 5: Objectives for the Working Group of Workstream 4: Feedback loops and incident prevention

Objective number Details
Objective 1 The Working Group will develop methodology for RCA and agree the feedback mechanisms required whilst considering how the processes should be best implemented.
Objective 2 The Working Group will update and consult on an entry for RCA and feedback loops in the Food Law Code of Practice and consider the redevelopment of the existing RCA e-Learning course.
Objective 3 The Working Group will embed RCA with CAs and the food industry looking to work with the FSA Regulating our Future and FSS Regulatory Strategy programmes. 
Objective 4 The Working Group will consider how the implementation of RCA and feedback loops should be evaluated in addition to identifying measures of success against which the work can be evaluated. 
Objective 5 A programme will be established to consider the RCA information fed back to FSA/FSS, to better understand what causes incidents, to share best practice, and to feed into incident prevention work.