From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, today chaired the third meeting of the Food Vision 2030 High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC). The meeting reviewed the ongoing work of the Food Vision Dairy Group; heard of the latest developments on “Ensuring Fair Trading in the Agri-Food Supply Chain”; and got an overview of the Trade Mission agenda for 2022/23.
Chair of the Food Vision Dairy Group, Professor Gerry Boyle, updated the Committee on progress towards finalising an interim report on the Food Vision action, to produce a plan to manage the sustainable environmental footprint of the dairy sector.
Following extensive stakeholder engagement, some 17 potential measures are being put forward to support the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. Given the urgency of the issues, the interim report will propose that each measure should be evaluated within a short timeframe in terms of its emissions mitigation, implementation potential and resource requirements. The interim report will be submitted to the Minister and published shortly, with a final report to be presented to the Minister at the end of July.
Minister McConalogue said at the meeting:
“I welcome the significant progress being made by the Food Vision Dairy Group and look forward to engaging further on its important work. I am pleased to announce that the Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group will convene shortly to begin its work with, as its Chair Professor Thia Hennessy, Head of the Department of Food Business & Development and Chair of Agri-Food Economics at Cork University Business School. I know Thia will be an excellent chair of the committee and will bring a unique perspective on how we tackle the challenges facing the sector as well as capitalising on the many opportunities for beef, suckler and sheep farmers. I am excited to see Thia commence her work with the group in the short time ahead.”
Minister McConalogue thanked Minister of State Martin Heydon, who has responsibility for New Market Development, for attending the HLIC to discuss the importance of trade missions in delivering on the Food Vision goal to “Develop Market Opportunities at Home and Abroad”.
Minister Heydon said:
“The establishment and nurturing of government-to-government relationships during trade missions are critical to building trust and making progress on addressing specific market access issues in our priority markets. I look forward to participating in a strong programme of in-person and virtual trade missions for the remainder of the year."
The Committee also heard of the latest developments on “Ensuring Fair Trading in the Agri-Food Supply Chain”, following the Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority seminar in early May.
More information and the Strategy itself is published at: gov.ie - Food Vision 2030 – A World Leader in Sustainable Food Systems (www.gov.ie)
More information on the Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority seminar: gov.ie - Information Seminar on UTP Regulations and Office of National Food Ombudsman (www.gov.ie)