MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD ------------------------------------------------------------ A clear message that people come first was issued today when Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham spoke about the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Dr Cunningham stressed public safety above all else. He said: "Protecting consumers and caring for the environment are top priorities. We will also focus on consumer needs. This is the only way to restore confidence in food, which, in turn, will benefit farming." The Ministry will have a new aim: "To ensure that consumers benefit from competitively priced food, produced to high standards of safety, environmental care and animal welfare and from a sustainable, efficient food chain; and to contribute to the well-being of rural and coastal communities." Key targets to be delivered by the end of the Parliament - set up the Food Standards Agency and establish a new role for MAFF; - resolve the problem of BSE and take action against other animal diseases; - press for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and reduce its cost to consumers and taxpayers; - work to sustain and enhance an attractive and accessible countryside; - encourage the restructuring of the farming and fishing industries. Headline changes and reforms - Food safety will be put on a new footing through the establishment of the Food Standards Agency. Over time the Government will recover from the food industry more of the costs of financing food safety work in a way that is administratively simple and fair to small business; - MAFF will be more consumer focused, with demanding new targets for reducing the incidence of organisms harmful to human health including certain animal diseases; - at the same time, MAFF will continue to promote high standards of animal health and welfare; - MAFF will press our EU colleagues to reform the Common Agricultural Policy to reduce production related subsidies and redirect support towards environmental and social objectives. Reform on these lines will help to produce an industry which is better able to compete and many British farmers will thrive and prosper in more competitive markets; - MAFF will encourage farmers and others to improve the attractiveness of the countryside and access to it, and to protect wildlife habitats and historic features. The coordination and financial planning of MAFF and DETR countryside and rural development programmes will be improved; - MAFF will aim to maintain fish stocks and reduce excess catching capacity in the fishing industry. A new research vessel will be commissioned to enhance MAFF's contribution to conserving fish stocks and reducing marine pollution; - extra capital spending on flood defence will improve flood warning systems and reduce the risk of loss of life and damage to property; - the administration of CAP payments to farmers will be modernised to reduce costs, deliver payments more efficiently and safeguard the taxpayers' interests. Key numbers budget # million (DEL) 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 Total plans MAFF 1419 1284 1223 1256 (and IB*) - current 1178 1065 1046 1021 - capital 241 219 177 235 * Intervention Board The reduction in spending reflects decreasing BSE support as confidence is restored and the Government's determination to bring support to the farming industry to a more sustainable long term level. Expenditure on the CAP in the UK (within Annually Managed Expenditure) is currently projected to be around 2.5 billion pounds in 1999-00 and 2000-01, down from 2.6 billion pounds in 1998-99, but rising towards 2.7 billion pounds in 2000-02. Notes for Editors The Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced the start of the Comprehensive Spending Review in a statement to the House of Commons on 11 June 1997. The Review had been promised in the 1997 Labour Election Manifesto. # = pounds sterling # = pounds sterling