The NFU played host this month to the first meeting of all the bodies that make up the expert group overseeing producer organisations in the UK.

With 17 POs still suspended following a review by the Rural Payments Agency, the group has been formed to try to ease tensions between growers and the RPA

Chaired by the RPA’s Simon Lunnis and attended by the NFU, Defra, several representatives from producer organisations, and members of the RPA’s operations team, the Producer Organisation Expert Group met to discuss its priorities.

The main focus will be improving how efficiently the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, which gives EU money to producer organisations via the RPA, operates. The suspension of nearly half the UK’s POs came after the EU fined the RPA for not administering the scheme correctly and one of the aims of the expert group will also allow producer organisations to discuss and ask questions to the RPA about the scheme.

“I’m hopeful that the new and improved PO Expert Group will ultimately ensure that the scheme is delivering what growers need it to and will start to encourage other POs to enter into the scheme,” said NFU chief horticulture adviser Hayley Campbell-Gibbons.

“Everybody in attendance at the meeting expressed a shared ambition to provide more clarity and transparency on the scheme’s rules. We all agree on the need for better communication and a certain amount of relationship mending. What sets this group aside from its previous incarnation is its strategic focus, as well as its commitment to addressing technical issues openly and honestly.”