The new plant health taskforce will meet for the first time on 18 April, the Food & Environment Research Agency (Fera) has confirmed.
Efficiency gains will be top of the agenda when government officials and plant health industry representatives get together for their inaugural meeting following the announcement of a phased increase in fees charged by government for the provision of plant health regulatory services to the industry which takes effect on 6 April.
Lord Taylor, Defra minister for plant health, said: “While it is government policy to recover the full costs arising from the provision of this type of work to businesses, we are keen to ensure that these costs are kept to an absolute minimum. The setting up of these taskforces provides an excellent opportunity for industry and government to share ideas on how to make the services more efficient. I look forward to discussing options with representatives from trade associations and other organisations from the sectors involved.”
Fera recently completed a consultation on proposed changes to the fees after a long period without review. As a result, a phased increase over a three-year period is being introduced.
Martin Ward, head of plant-health policy at Fera said: “We welcome the opportunity to engage with industry representatives at focused taskforce meetings, following this, and future consultations. This collaborative approach has been broadly welcomed by the industry as we share the aim of developing more efficient services with simple and transparent charges.”
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