By unlocking the export potential China offers the pig industry, not to mention the red meat sector as a whole, we could gain entry into a marketplace which comprises a fifth of the world’s population.Defra sets out farm reform timetable
DEFRA has published a timetable of milestones to reform British agriculture and encourage sustainable food production throughout the country.
The Structural Reform Plan (SRP) sets out the department’s commitments to reform, and exactly when it intends to implement them.
Over coming months Defra teams will develop detailed plans with an overall objective ‘to support and develop British farming and encourage sustainable food production’.
These plans will be published to the following timetable, although Defra did admit it had adopted ‘a cautious view of the timescales’ due to the unpredictability of pressures on Parliamentary time:
| Defra pledge | Due date |
|---|---|
| To submit proposals to reform the animal welfare inspection regime, and reduce inspections on low-risk farms | December 2010 |
| To publish guidelines for all Government departments and public sector bodies to source food to Red Tractor-standards of production | January 2011 |
| To publish recommendations to de-regulate farming | April 2011 |
| To reveal plans to share animal disease responsibility with the industry | April 2011 |
| To publish details on how to encourage greater transparency in food labelling | May 2011 |
| To develop affordable measures of support for hill farmers and affordable options for a carefully-managed and science-led policy of badger control | June 2010 - December 2011 |
| To set out options for helping with fuel costs in remote rural areas | March 2012 |
Caroline Spelman, Defra Secretary, said: “I am delighted to publish the Department’s Structural Reform Plan. This is an important opportunity for us to set out our commitments to reform, and when we will implement them.”
The plan will be put to consultation and published as a final commitment alongside Defra’s agreed budgets in the Autumn Spending Review.
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