Rural Affairs and Islands Committee
Inter Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs meeting, 13 September 2021
Letter to the Convener from the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, Mairi Gougeon, 1 November 2021
Dear Finlay,
INTER-MINISTERIAL GROUP FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS (IMG EFRA) MEETING
This letter updates the Committee on the key points from the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs meeting held on 13 September 2021.
The meeting was hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive via video conference with Edwin Poots MLA, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs acting as chair. Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Islands represented the Scottish Government.
The main items of discussion were consideration of the recommendations from Henry Dimbleby’s independent National Food Strategy Review for the UK Government, the recent Defra consultation on the regulation of genetic technologies, future funding, Common Frameworks, border operations, and labour shortages.
The group noted that the next meeting was scheduled to take place in October. A read out of the meeting and summary of attendance is included in the attached communiqué and has been published on the Scottish Government website.
We hope this summary is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
MAIRI GOUGEON