The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has recently published new guidance to help organisations effectively assess and gain confidence in the cyber security of their supply chains.

It follows a significant increase in cyber-attacks resulting from vulnerabilities within supply chains in recent years, including some high-profile incidents such as the SolarWinds attack.

The new guidance is designed to help medium and larger organisations effectively assess the cyber risks of working with suppliers and gain assurance that mitigations are in place.

Supply chain attacks can cause far-reaching and costly disruption, yet the latest government data shows just over one in ten businesses review the risks posed by their immediate suppliers (13%), and the proportion for the wider supply chain is just 7%.

Could you provide a case study?

The NCSC are also looking for organisations of all sizes to share their experience of a cyber incident as an anonymous case study. Incidents can include Phishing with data extortion or malware; Ransomware; Malicious Insider; Data breach; Denial of service or DDOS. If you are willing to share your experience click here

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) have now published their final progress report on the sugar reduction programme 2015-2020, a year later than planned.

The programme was launched in 2016 by Public Health England (PHE) but transferred to the Office for health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in 2021 when PHE was disbanded. Its aim was to achieve a voluntary 20% sugar reduction across key categories in a bid to reduce childhood obesity.

Progress is reported for retailers and manufacturer branded products purchased for consumption in the home and uses sales weighted averages for products purchased across Great Britain (GB).

However, the data reveals that industry achieved just a 3.5% reduction based on data for the year ending 6th September 2020, compared with a baseline year of 2015. It also shows a 7.1% increase in the tonnes of sugar sold from the product categories included in the programme between the baseline and year four. This included a 26.9% increase in the tonnes of sugar sold in chocolate confectionery and 24.5% for sweet spreads and sauces. The suggestion is that this could have been caused in part by the increased amount of sweet treats consumed during lockdown.

The programme seems to have been even less successful in the out-of-home sector, achieving just a 0.2% reduction in the simple average total sugar per 100g in products sold between its baseline of 2017 and 2020. Note: for those products, a baseline year of 2017 was set as robust data for 2015 wasn’t available.

In fact, only three categories, yoghurts and fromage frais, breakfast cereals and puddings saw reductions in sugar over the period, with an overall 8.1% increase in total volume sales from 2015 to 2020.

Unsurprisingly, as a result, health campaigners are now calling on Government not to rely on voluntary action and instead impose levies on the products in question as was the case for soft drinks. However, industry bodies have been quick to highlight the significant progress they have made and questioned whether the 20% reduction was ever realistic, with the reformulation of many products remaining a challenge.

You can read the full report here

The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) launched a new inquiry considering how environmental changes are likely to impact future food security.

The Committee’s inquiry will examine the UK’s preparedness and resilience to future food supply stresses or shocks caused by climate change and other environmental changes. Several environmental factors threaten the stability and long-term sustainability of global food production: climate change, biodiversity loss caused by agricultural land expansion, and overexploitation of natural capital resources, including fish stocks and water resources.

Water security is inextricably tied to food security and the Committee may wish to consider broadening the inquiry – or building on it at a later date – to include water security. Water scarcity is likely to be a major issue in summer 2023 as there are fears that reservoirs may not be fully replenished.

Climate change is one of the biggest long-term threats to global and UK food security.  Agriculture around the world is vulnerable to changes in temperature and rainfall, shifting pests and diseases, and extreme weather events. The IPCC sixth assessment report (AR6) published in March 2022, warned that climate change will increasingly put pressure on food production and access to food, especially in vulnerable regions, undermining food security and nutrition

The Committee would welcome submissions to its inquiry which address any or all of the terms of reference. Submissions should be made through the Committee’s evidence portal, to be received by 5.00 pm on Thursday 15 December 2022.

To find out more, or how to respond, please click here.

The guidance for exporting or moving food, drink and agriculture products has been updated on gov.uk to add in guidance for exporting or moving commercial samples containing products of animal origin to the EU or Northern Ireland.

The guidance states:

Commercial samples containing POAO:

Commercial samples of goods that contain POAO need an export health certificate to export or move them to the EU or Northern Ireland.

Before you export your samples, contact the veterinary BCP where the samples will enter the EU to check the export requirements.

To read the guidance in full, click here