Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum

***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference will examine priorities and next steps for the National Food Strategy and the forthcoming white paper from the Government - and legislation that is expected to follow - as well as wider key issues for the food and drink sector.

It will be an opportunity to discuss priorities for the development of the white paper, which intends to effect a transformative improvement on the food system to make it fit for the future, with a particular focus on health and sustainability. The white paper is expected to be published in six months’ time, informed by Part Two of the National Food Strategy.

Speaking on the importance of the strategy, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Rt Hon George Eustice MP, said:

“The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us all of the vital role our food system plays in our daily lives.

With the growing pressures of climate change, biodiversity loss and the need for healthy affordable food, this key review will tackle issues of the utmost importance to us all.

The National Food Strategy is an opportunity for us to shape what food means to us as a society, and I look forward to working closely with Henry Dimbleby as we strive to build a robust food system fit for the future.”

The conference also takes place in the context of other relevant policy developments impacting the UK food and drink landscape, including the Government’s obesity strategy, the Environment Bill, and the Agriculture Act - as well as the impact of COVID-19 and the UK’s exit from the EU, with knock-on effects for future trade agreements.

Attendees

Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders. Places have been reserved by parliamentary pass-holders from the House of Commons and officials from the Cabinet Office; DAERA, NI; Defra; the Department for Communities, NI; the Department for International Trade; the Department of Health and Social Care; the Department of Health, ROI; the Food Standards Agency; Food Standards Scotland; the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office; the National Audit Office; the Planning Inspectorate; and the Welsh Government. Also due to attend are representatives from Ashbury Labelling; A Team Foundation; Bangor University; BASF; Berry Gardens; Brighton and Hove City Council; British Association for Shooting and Conservation; British Soft Drinks Association; Cardiff University - School of Law and Politics; Clarke Willmott; Danone; Dawn Meats; FERA; Food and Drink Federation; Food Standards Agency; Food Standards Scotland; Frontier Economics; GM Freeze; Growing Real Food for Nutrition; Guy's and St Thomas Foundation; ICF Consulting; International Meat Trade Association; King's College London; Klinge Chemicals; Lancashire County Council; Landworkers Alliance; Leeds & York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Leeds City Council; McCormick; Neath Port Talbot Council; Obesity Action Scotland; Plunkett Foundation; Public Health England; REfUSE; Rothschild Foundation; Royal Agricultural University; Safefood; Savills; Slow Food Birmingham; Southampton City Council; Tees Esk Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust; University of Edinburgh; University of Exeter; University of Leeds; University of Surrey; Warwickshire County Council; West Wales Action for Mental Health; and Zero Carbon Forum.

Press passes have been reserved by representatives from Food & Drink Technology and Transform Magazine.

This is a full-scale conference taking place online***

• full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording and transcript to refer back to
• information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
• conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
• speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
• opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
• a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
• delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
• networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!

Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference

Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum policy conference
Net-zero, climate change and the food, drink and agriculture sector
Morning, Wednesday, 23rd June 2021

Full replays of Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum conferences are made available within one week of the live broadcast, providing a timely and permanent record of proceedings for delegates on the day, for our policymaker contacts in parliament, government and regulation, and wider stakeholders in business, advocacy groups and beyond.

Accompanying material includes a ready-reference transcript, copies of the speakers’ presentation material, the delegate information pack, and relevant articles supplied by attendees after the conference.

The agenda can be viewed here.

***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***

This conference will be a timely opportunity to discuss key issues against a backdrop of significant change, with:

• the UK setting its own course for regulation and standards following Brexit
• the sector facing challenges in the wake of COVID-19
• the UK beginning to establish and finalise new international trade deals
• developments in consumer preferences, and opportunities they present for novel foods and other areas of innovation, as well as new approaches being adopted by food and drink businesses

Delegates will assess the implications for UK food safety, standards, and regulation, as well as the outlook for the sector, and priorities for conditions and pressures arising from future trade deals.

We are pleased to be able to include keynote sessions at this conference from Emily Miles, Chief Executive Officer, Food Standards Agency; Helen Munday, President, Institute of Food Science & Technology; Tom Forshaw, Senior Analyst, Policy, AHDB; and Nick von Westenholz, Director, Trade and Business Strategy, NFU, and Member, Trade and Agriculture Commission - as well as contributions from Addleshaw Goddard; Burges Salmon; BSI Group; the Chartered Trading Standards Institute; Fera Science; Tate & Lyle PLC; UK Hospitality; and Which?.

Taking place as the UK agrees a free trade deal with Australia, the conference will also discuss the possible implications of the agreement for food standards in the UK and for future trade agreements. We are delighted to be able to welcome a contribution on food standards priorities and regulation from Professor Mark Booth, Chief Executive Officer, Food Standards Australia New Zealand at this conference.

Delegates will also discuss the key strategic priorities going forward to protect food standards following the Trade and Agriculture Commission’s final report, how the recent trade agreement followed the Commission’s report, and the opportunities for the UK to play a leading role on the global stage.

With the Government setting out its agenda for improving animal welfare in the Queen’s Speech - including a new action plan and developing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway for the production of healthier animals - delegates will have the opportunity to assess what this raising of standards in domestic policy means for food standards in trade deals and food imports.

Overall, areas for discussion include:

• food regulation following exit from the EU - assessing the UK’s approach, and the future for regulatory collaboration and cooperation
• the impact of the pandemic - its effect on the regulatory landscape, and overcoming the challenges posed by COVID-19
• regulatory reform - assessing progress, as well as identifying further areas and options for change
• keeping pace - what more can be done to help local authorities, safety professionals, and the food industry as they adapt in an evolving, and increasingly diverse and innovative environment
• policy and international relationships - the future of food standards in the UK, and the outlook for future trade deals and their impact
• UK-Australia trade deal - assessing the protection of food standards within the agreement and the precedent it sets for future agreements

Attendees

Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders. Places have been reserved by parliamentary pass-holders from both Houses of Parliament, and officials from DAERA, NI; Defra; the Department for International Trade; the Department of Health and Social Care; the Drinking Water Inspectorate; the Food Standards Agency; Food Standards Scotland; the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; the National Audit Office; the National Food Crime Unit; and the Welsh Government. Also due to attend are representatives from Agricultural Industries Confederation; Aldi; Ashbury Labelling; Associated British Foods; Berry Gardens; Beyond GM; Clarke Willmott; Dawn Meats Group; Derbyshire County Council; Elanco Animal Health; Fera Science; Food Safety Authority of Ireland; Futura Foods UK; GLOBALG.A.P.; GM Freeze; Gowling WLG; Hovis; Institute of Food Science & Technology; Klinge Chemicals; Leatherhead Food Research; ML3 Technical Services; Moy Park; North Yorkshire County Council; NSF International; Quadram Institute Bioscience; Red Bull; Richardson Milling UK; Tate & Lyle; Tesco; The Andersons Centre; The Cannabis Trades Association; UK Association of Milk Banks; Unilever; University of Lincoln; University of Reading; University of Sussex; Waters Corporation and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Press passes have been reserved by representatives from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism; H2o Publishing and Unearthed.

Overall, we expect speakers and attendees to be a senior and informed group including Members of both Houses of Parliament, senior government and regulatory officials involved in this area of policy, as well as from representatives of the agriculture and food and drink industry - including associations, manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers - local government officials, trading standards, representatives of the agritech and crop science industries, academics, consultancies and law firms, international attendees, charities and consumer groups, together with reporters from the national and specialist media.

This is a full-scale conference taking place online***

• full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording and transcript to refer back to
• information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
• conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
• speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
• opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
• a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
• delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
• networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!

Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference

Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum policy conference
Policy on consumption of HFSS products
Morning, Thursday, 1st July 2021

Full replays of Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum conferences are made available within one week of the live broadcast, providing a timely and permanent record of proceedings for delegates on the day, for our policymaker contacts in parliament, government and regulation, and wider stakeholders in business, advocacy groups and beyond.

Accompanying material includes a ready-reference transcript, copies of the speakers’ presentation material, the delegate information pack, and relevant articles supplied by attendees after the conference.

The agenda can be viewed here.

Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum
The UK food supply chain - policy and support, EU and global relationships, fairness and environmental sustainability, and moving forward from COVID
Morning, Thursday, 27th May 2021

Full replays of Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum conferences are made available within one week of the live broadcast, providing a timely and permanent record of proceedings for delegates on the day, for our policymaker contacts in parliament, government and regulation, and wider stakeholders in business, advocacy groups and beyond.

Accompanying material includes a ready-reference transcript, copies of the speakers’ presentation material, the delegate information pack, and relevant articles supplied by attendees after the conference.

The agenda can be viewed here.

Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum policy conference
New and emerging novel foods - the UK regulatory system, market development, safety, and innovation in the food sector
Morning, Tuesday, 27th April 2021

Full replays of Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum conferences are made available within one week of the live broadcast, providing a timely and permanent record of proceedings for delegates on the day, for our policymaker contacts in parliament, government and regulation, and wider stakeholders in business, advocacy groups and beyond.

Accompanying material includes a ready-reference transcript, copies of the speakers’ presentation material, the delegate information pack, and relevant articles supplied by attendees after the conference.

The agenda can be viewed here.

***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference will assess the key priorities for taking forward UK agriculture policy in the context of implementation of the Agriculture Act and the UK’s exit from the EU.

We are delighted to be able to include a ministerial address at this conference from Victoria Prentis MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Defra.

Areas for discussion include:

• the new payment system - managing the transition and priorities for collaboration, support, and engagement with the agriculture sector
• environmental land management - lessons from the pilots, fair measurement of the value of public goods, and taking into account the needs of farmers in more challenging settings
• regulation - setting and enforcing requirements and standards, coordination and support, and the way forward for simplification
• productivity and sustainability - achieving both economic and environmental goals, building net-zero into the future of agriculture, and priority areas for innovation, research and investment

The conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who are due to attend from Defra; BEIS; the Committee on Climate Change; the Environment Agency; the Forestry Commission; DAERA, NI; the Department for Infrastructure, NI; HM Revenue & Customs; the National Audit Office; The Scottish Government; The Planning Inspectorate; the Welsh Government; the Department for International Trade; and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The seminar is supported by The Icon Group, and organised on the basis of strict impartiality by the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum.

The agenda

• The future for UK agricultural policy following EU exit
• ‘Successfully applying the concept of paying for environmental public goods’
• Priorities for managing the transition to the new payment system, inclusive approaches for effective delivery, and taking forward wider new national agricultural policy
• Land use, resource management and the future for productivity in the new rural policy landscape
• Delivering effective environmental land management - pilot progress, practicalities and support for farmers, the future for land use, resource management and productivity, and aligning with net-zero emission targets
• Next steps for agriculture policy in the UK

Key areas for discussion:

• the Agriculture Act - taking forward the new national policy for agriculture in the UK, following exit from the EU and the transition from CAP payments, looking at:
  
  • priorities for effective implementation
  • opportunities for working collaboratively to achieve successful delivery
  • engagement with the sector throughout the process
• transition and support - managing the transition to the new payment system, including:
  
  • the £1m Future Farming Resilience Funding Scheme - its impact in supporting farmers and providing guidance for the move towards the new approach to farming
  • addressing concerns over a lack of clarity on the latter years of the transition period for payments
  • the Government’s future subsidy approach - priorities for its development, and concerns that a UK approach to the agriculture industry around this would not be appropriate due to its devolved nature
• payments - the impact of moving towards a system of payment based on public goods, as well as:
  
  • ways that payments can incentivise the use of sustainable practices and provide a benefit to farmers
  • assessing the phased reduction of payments, and mitigating the impact of transition on farm businesses
  • addressing concerns around tenant farmer access to new payments
• environmental land management:
  
  • pilots so far - assessing progress, and lessons learnt to inform the development of the scheme, including around planning, payments, collaboration, guidance and delivery
  • measuring value:
    
    • latest thinking and approaches to fairly and effectively assessing environmental outcomes
    • options for accommodating the situation of farmers in more environmentally challenging areas
  • implementation - priorities for the successful application of paying for environmental public goods, and for making it work
  • land use and resource management - evaluating the environmental benefits and long-term opportunities, as well as:
    
    • impact of the payment transition - what the move to a payment system based on public money for public goods means for the future of land use and how resources are managed
    • priorities for local nature recovery - including habitat, species and natural flood management, as well as landscape recovery
• regulation - next steps for reform, including:
  
  • balancing minimum requirements with standards that farmers are paid to exceed
  • making the regulatory system more supportive and advisory
  • how to simplify and improve coordination in the regulatory landscape for farming
• improving productivity:
  
  • the contribution and role of productivity as part of the future outlook for farming
  • how the drive for productivity sits alongside environmental policy aims
  • identifying priority areas for innovation, research and investment
• net-zero - building climate adaptation and the meeting of decarbonisation targets into the future of agriculture:
  
  • the potential contribution of environmental management schemes and how they should be configured
  • supporting the sector to deliver the action required, at a time of considerable change and transition
  • what more needs to be done to meet the net-zero agenda

The policy context:

• the Agriculture Act - setting out the future for UK agriculture policy following the UK leaving the EU, and the move away from CAP to a public money for public goods system
• Environmental Land Management: test and trials - an update from Defra including findings so far around planning, guidance, collaboration, payments and delivery
• The Path to Sustainable Farming: An Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024 - from Defra:
  
  • setting out the agricultural transition period as the UK leaves the EU
  • outlining the phased reduction of direct payments, and the development and introduction of environmental land management schemes
• Farming Innovation Pathways - the competition launched by UKRI and Defra looking to advance research and development in agricultural innovation to address farming challenges, with funding split between feasibility projects and industrial research
• National food strategy for England - the independent review led by Henry Dimbleby, with recommendations on addressing systemic food chain challenges in agriculture, sustainability and the environment
• the Environment Secretary’s speech at the NFU conference 2021 - outlining the future of agriculture, and inviting farmers to take part in the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot, with expressions of interest being accepted in March
• Trade and Agriculture Commission: Final Report - with recommendations including that Government must maintain high food standards for imports in any future trade deal
• Subsidy control: designing a new approach for the UK - the Government’s closed consultation on the development of a national domestic subsidy approach, which works across the UK, following exit from the EU

Policy officials attending:

Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders. Places have been reserved by parliamentary pass-holders from both Houses of Parliament and the House of Commons Library, and officials from BEIS; the Committee on Climate Change; DAERA, NI; Defra; the Department for Infrastructure, NI; the Department for International Trade; the Environment Agency; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; the Forestry Commission; HM Revenue & Customs; the National Audit Office; The Scottish Government; The Planning Inspectorate; the Valuation Office Agency and the Welsh Government.

Overall, we expect speakers and attendees to be a senior and informed group including Members of both Houses of Parliament, senior government and regulatory officials involved in this area of public policy, together with representatives of the agriculture and food and drink industry - including associations, manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers - local government officials, representatives of the agritech and crop science industries, environmental and conservation groups, academics, lawyers and consultancies, international attendees, charities and consumer groups, together with reporters from the national and trade media.

This is a full-scale conference taking place online***

• full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording and transcript to refer back to
• information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
• conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
• speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
• opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
• a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
• delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
• networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!

Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference