EXPERT GROUPS: The BRDO Business Expert Groups

Client: The Food, Beverage, and Supplements Industries 

Industry: Food, Beverage, and Supplements 

Situation:

                       In the view of our Director of Due Diligence, Sukh Gill:

"the UK has the most progressive and innovative approach to better regulation in the world, and the BRDO (Better Regulation Delivery Office), is the exemplar "par excellence" of this - with innovations such as "primary authority partnerships" and "assured advice" 

One earlier UK innovation had been LACOTS, the Local Authority Co-ordinating body on Trading Standards, which morphed into LACORS and then LGR. This organisation was valued by both enforcement and industry, as from time to time it developed and issued opinions on matters of Regulatory uncertainty. Unfortunately, LGR ceased to operate after 2010 leaving a gap that urgently needed to be filled.

Solution: With the support of the BRDO, Sukh was pivotal in bringing a new group into being following the demise of LGR(LACORS) and that group has come to be known as the BRDO Business Expert Group on Food Standards and Labelling and enjoys secretariat support from the BRDO. As inaugural Chair of the group between 2012 and 2015, Sukh presided over proceedings attended by the leading food trade bodies as well as senior representatives from the FSA, DEFRA, DH, and CTSI to liaise on the development of UK enforcement policy and practice on Food Standards and Labelling.

Outcome: The new group is an improvement on the past given its broader stakeholder representation than LGR and the constructive dynamic it has created as a group. Sukh retains a passion for better regulation and regularly volunteers his time freely to support better regulation initiatives when he can. His current interest is facilitating cross-border trade.