THE meat processing industry faces a fresh crisis next week following the decision by the Irish Renderers Federation to cease accepting offal for processing from the close of business yesterday. The renderers have acted after failing to agree an industry wide support mechanism with meat processors to replace the short term aid made available by the Government in the wake of the BSE crisis.

Mr John Smith, the chief executive of the Irish Meat Processors Association (IMPA), accused the renderers of holding the meat industry to ransom.

The rendering industry is seeking an industry wide levy on offal of around £70 per tonne, which would compensate them for the decline in sales of the meat by products they make following the BSE scare. The association believed that the levy could in turn be passed on by the meat processors to the farmers.

The IMPA favours local bargaining between meat factories and the individual renderers rather than an industry wide agreement.