President of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Ross Warburton has called on the UK government to create a policy framework that puts sustainable food production at its centre and provides more strategic support for the sector.
Speaking at the FDF president’s dinner in London last week, Warburton remarked that food manufacturing was more important to the UK economy than the motor sector and yet didn’t expect “state handouts”, despite also going through tough economic times.
“What do we want specifically from government that isn’t there at the moment?” said Warburton. “To make the food sector a strategic priority for government and the sector given the same level of focus as the car industry.”
Warburton also called on government to introduce a “moratorium on further regulation and quasi-regulation for the food industry”. He asked for closer collaboration with government to ensure that it is “more effective in shaping further EU legislative proposals”
His comments followed a similar call made at a European level by the director general of the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU, Mella Frewen.
“It is critical that policy is underpinned by sound scientific evidence; it’s practical and realistic and implemented within a reasonable time frame,” he said.
“We value the continuing dialogue with regulators and legislators, but we need to make sure that the context of the dialogue is one which values our industry. And we want government to live up to the promise of limiting unnecessary regulatory burdens in these recessionary times.”