Dame Deirdre Hutton Visits DP World Southampton

The Chair of the Food Standards Agency, Dame Deirdre Hutton, recently visited
DP World Southampton, including the Border Inspection Post, as part of a wider visit to Hampshire County Council and Southampton City Council’s Port Health Service.

Dame Deirdre Hutton was accompanied by two of her board members, Margaret Gilmore and Clive Grundy.  The visitors were met by Cllr Dean (portfolio holder for Transport and the Environment), Liz Marsh (Head of the Environment Division) as well as several Port Health Officers.

The visit included a tour of the container terminal hosted by Derek Smith, DP World Southampton’s Business Development Manager.  The expanse of the port was seen at first hand together with the size and capacity of the large containerships calling at the terminal.

A tour of the Border Inspection Post concluded the visit to the port, where Dame Deirdre Hutton saw many examples of imported foods seized by the Port Health team due to breaches of legislative requirements.  They also saw the need for working partnerships within the County, the City and local business.

Dame Deirdre Hutton said in a letter following the visit, "The programme was very well put together and gave us a number of useful insights into the work of the Local Authority and the Port Health Authority".