Very innovative and self-reliant standing on its own two feet
Twelve months since his appointment the Minister recognised and indeed praised the UK poultry industry for being very innovative, unsubsidised and thus earning all of its income from the market place and for being self-reliant. He added that the £3.0 billion industry (£2.3 billion poultry meat and £700 million egg industry) stood on its own two feet and consequently Government were keen to learn lessons from our success which intern could be used to make other sectors of agriculture more productive. George Eustice added that Liz Truss also shared his high regard for the industry and it was exactly this type of sustainable intensification that the Government were keen to promote.
After praising the industry the Minister’s twenty minute speech covered red tape, research and development, the transatlantic trade negotiations, beak tipping and campylobacter.
Cutting bureaucracy and duplication
The Minister reported that his government had recently completed the Red Tape Challenge and removed around 80% of unnecessary red tape. Earned recognition, which the Minister is keen on, is the catalyst for Government to cut back on red tape, bureaucracy and duplication. Regarding planning the Minister reported that Secretary of State Liz Truss, is keen to investigate the planning process to achieve a simpler and faster system and is working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to remove some of the barriers.
R and D
The importance of R and D was recognised by the Government and taken very seriously. Knowledge transfer is an important component of this and to this end a £160 million Agri Tech Strategy fund has been launched by Government. £70 million of which will go into the catalyst fund and £90 million into developing centres of Innovation and Excellence.
Recognising the frustrations of the industry
The Minister recognised and understood the layer industry frustration arising from the implementation of the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive (EU Council Directive 1999/74/EC, the time taken to prosecute non-compliant member states and indeed the outcome.
Recognising the concerns of the industry
On the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA), the Minister recognises the concerns of the industry however, he pointed out that a successful outcome was worth up to £10.0 billion per annum to the ULK economy. The Minister added that he thought it was possible to work through the issues by recognising ‘equivalents’ which had been achieved in other sectors and so why not poultry?
Beak Tipping
On beak tipping the Minister commented that it is an ‘important decision to get right’ and that we should not ‘rush to make a decision’.
Tackling disease and food scares
This was the ‘big challenge’ facing the industry and to play its part the government had committed £1.2 million into research funding to improve bio-security. On campylobacter the Minister commented that he recognised what has been done but the sooner we can accelerate a treatment and re-double our efforts this would be very much welcomed.