Two new members have been appointed to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
The new appointees are Tim Bennett, former president of the NFU, and Nancy Robson, former chair of the FSA Consumer Committee.
Bennett has been appointed to the FSA Board for three years and Robson for two years.
The appointments will come into effect from March 1 2007 and have been made in accordance with the guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA).
Tim Bennett farms in partnership with his wife Susan near Carmarthen in South West Wales. He was deputy president and then president of the NFU of England and Wales between 1998 and 2006. He was also a governor of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research between 2000 and 2006. He is currently on the council of Food From Britain.
Robson is the former chair of the Food Standards Agency Consumer Committee and former member of the NCC's Consumer Councils Forum. She has wide experience of promoting consumer involvement in food and health issues at both policy and community level and has worked with public, private and voluntary organisations toward a better understanding of the needs of consumers.