| News
Levy bodies announce £2m
programme of joint activity
The red meat levy bodies in England, Scotland and Wales
have announced a major programme of joint activities to
be paid for by a ring-fenced fund of £2 million of AHDB
red meat levies.
n agreement by
the Agriculture and
Horticulture
Development
Board (AHDB),
Hybu Cig Cymru,
(HCC) and Quality Meat Scotland
(QMS) will see a range of activity
delivered in a three-way
collaboration starting in 2018.
This has been developed as an
interim arrangement while a long-
term solution is sought on the
issue of levies being collected at
point of slaughter in England for
animals which have been reared in
Scotland or Wales.
The three organisations share
an immediate joint commitment to
collaborating to ensure levy payers
across Great Britain benefit from
the activities delivered using the £2
million ring-fenced fund.
The agreement announced
today (06 February 2018) follows
12 months of talks between the
three bodies after the parameters
of the fund were set out by
A
Ministers early in 2017.
This established that AHDB
would set aside a ring-fenced sum
of £2 million to support a
programme of activities benefitting
cattle, sheep and pig levy payers
in Scotland, Wales and England.
Jane King, Chief Executive of
the AHDB, said: “The three GB
levy bodies share many
challenges and the simple fact is
we can more effectively address
them through working together.
“Though we already work
closely with our colleagues in HCC
and QMS on various projects, this
new arrangement will take our
collaboration to a whole new level
with all three organisations
deciding jointly how we will invest
this fund to make the biggest
impact for the red meat sectors.”
Gwyn Howells, Chief Executive
of HCC, said: “Addressing the
issue of the loss of levy income to
the Welsh red meat industry has
been long awaited. While a
permanent solution will require
08 | Farming Monthly | February 2018
Alan Clarke
legislation, this interim
arrangement will allow greater
value for money and accountability
for Welsh levy-payers.”
“We look forward to working
together with our colleagues in
Scotland and England on
important programmes of joint
activity in areas such as overseas
market access, research, and
communicating the health benefits
of red meat within a balanced
diet.”
Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of
QMS, said: “It is encouraging that
progress has been made and that
recognition has been given to the
movement of livestock around GB
and the impact this has on each of
the levy bodies.
“The priority now is to ensure
we maximise the benefit to levy
payers of the activities delivered
from the ring-fenced fund. This
collaboration gives us the
opportunity to take a joined-up
approach to issues that affect the
industry, regardless of geography.”
Jane King
Gwyn Howells
The levy bodies have agreed
that effective from the financial
year 2018/19 the new joint fund
will focus on five priority areas:
• International shows and export
events
• Market access
• Brexit preparation
• Meat and health, animal health
and environment
• Research
The ring-fenced fund will boost
the international presence and
access for meat from Britain in key
overseas markets with particular
focus on preparing the red meat
sector for the potential challenges
and opportunities that are likely to
follow Brexit.
In the meat and health, animal
health and environment category
the three organisations will
concentrate on collaborating on
positive messaging to counteract
negative messages, while work on
antimicrobial resistance is
expected to dominate the research
investment.
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