Next government must promise growth for UK agriculture

Growth and sustainability are at the heart of what the agricultural supply industry seeks from the next Government. In a document entitled ‘Government 2015–20 – what Britain’s agricultural supply trade seeks’ and issued by the Agriculture Industries Confederation (AIC), it calls on the next UK Government to support a growth agenda with appropriate regulation and a realistic concept of sustainability.

While it acknowledges recent ‘pump-priming’ initiatives introduced to support a wide range of innovation in the growth and processing of agricultural products, AIC points out that these will only be effective if the industry can have confidence in the medium term future.

“We have used the run up to Election 2015 to continue to promote a number of campaign themes that AIC has been working at on behalf of its Members,” said AIC Chief Executive David Caffall.

“These include fiscal measures such as a tax regime that encourages research, innovation and business development, as well as appropriate regulation which does not place a heavy burden on our Members or the industry that they serve.

“A notable example of this is the concept of ‘earned recognition’ where those who abide by regulatory codes and voluntary schemes can expect a lighter touch in terms of inspection. This is already working in connection with our UFAS and TASCC schemes and will soon be the case with FIAS. We would like to see more of this in the future.”

Maintaining the balance between growth and sustainability, the manifesto concludes: “AIC seeks a Government that takes the lead in establishing and promoting a vision on sustainable agriculture which meets the increased demand for agricultural production through systems which minimise environmental change without impacting negatively on human health.”