NEWS APPG gets a taste for exports
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Food and Drink Manufacturing met to discuss how food and drink exports can be a significant driver for economic growth, and the important role Government can play in helping the sector achieve its potential. The Group heard from Food
and Drink Federation (FDF) president and managing director of GeneralMills, JimMoseley, who gave them an overview of the role of exports in FDF’s shared vision with government to grow the sector by 20 per cent by 2020. Nick Baird, chief executive of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), presented an overview of the work UKTI is doing to promote food and drink exports.
The meeting also provided a
showcase exhibition for successful exporting companies. Represented were Devro, Dorset Cereals, Elizabeth Shaw, Nestlé, Typhoo, United Biscuits and Vimto, who had the opportunity to speak to parliamentarians directly, and to highlight what they need to continue their export success. Last year, exports of food and
drink grew for a seventh successive year, totalling £12.1bn an increase of 11.4 per cent on the previous year. In partnership with Government, FDF is working to improve the support for exporting businesses, to help them achieve their exports potential and help grow the economy. John StevensonMP chair of the
All-Party Parliamentary Food and DrinkManufacturing Group said: “Exports have the potential to make a significant contribution to the growth of British food and drink manufacturing, and to the UK economy. It is great to have the opportunity to meet with businesses who have successfully tapped into new markets to sell their products and who have developed trading relationships with retailers abroad. “There is a shared aspiration
between industry and Government to maximise our export potential and to create the right environment for businesses to sell to other countries which will both strengthen our economy and create growth in the industry.”
FDF Pledge on target
The Food andDrink Federation
(FDF) has revealed that UK food and drinkmanufacturers arewell on target tomeet its pledge to double the number of apprenticeships in the industry by the end of 2012.
The latest data fromthe
NationalApprenticeship Service (NAS) and Improve shows that the number of apprentice starts in the first sixmonths of the pledge has reached 1,654 – nearly 50 per cent of the overall target of 3,400.
Apprenticeships taken up
during this period cover awide range of disciplines, from production-related roles such as newproduct development and engineering, to commercial functions such as finance and human resources.
The pledge aims to build a pool
of talented apprentices that can be developed and deployed across the sector – building skills for the future and enabling the industry tomeet its ambition to grow20 per cent by 2020.
PAFAdoubts targets
PAFA (the trade body that represents the packaging industry) has called on senior DEFRA ministers to recognise that the proposal on packaging recycling targets has failed to address the problems endemic in UK waste policy that will prevent plastic recycling targets from being met. Barry Turner, PAFA chief
executive said, “In spite of all our efforts it was very disappointing to see DEFRA rush through a proposal that totally failed to address the key goal of diversion of plastics from landfill and instead just focused on setting a recycling target. Most frustrating was the fact that this was done before the
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ACP (Advisory Committee on Packaging) and plastics taskforce had completed its work and the ACP had reported its findings.” PAFA stressed that although
the present policy sets a plastics recycling target of 42 per cent by 2017, it is silent on how the remaining 58 per cent is to be dealt with.
ACS welcomes dropped pasty tax
ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed confirmation that the chancellor is to reconsider proposed new rules on the charging of VAT on hot takeaway food. The so called ʻpasty taxʼ, put
out for consultation alongside the budget in March, would have affected any business selling “food which, or any part of which, is above the ambient air temperature at the time it is provided to the customer, other than freshly baked bread”. ACS chief executive, James Lowman said: “Government
were right to identify that the current rules on hot food takeaway are confusing and open to inconsistent interpretation. Unfortunately we did not believe the measure proposed would have delivered the clarity desired; nor could we support a measure that would have led to an overall increase in the cost of food to consumers. “We await an opportunity to
review the detail of the Governmentʼs new policy and will continue to argue for an policy that is clear, consistently applied and fair to retailers and consumers.”
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