The United Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was dissolved in 2002. It was the last actual Ministry in the UK, and with its dissolution the post of Minister of Agriculture UK, which existed briefly as part of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural affairs, was also dissolved.
With the sudden and abrupt departure of the Agriculture Ministry, UK, it's little surprise that many business people have questions about what happened and where to direct their inquiries. Here are answers to the most common questions:
1. What did the MAFF do before its dissolution?
2. What happened to the MAFF?
3. Who's handling the Ministry of Agriculture in the UK now?
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Find out who the Minister of Agriculture UK was and now is
In 2001 the position previously known as Minster of Agriculture was merged into the office of Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. MAFF was officially abolished in 2002.
I recommend: The
UK official documents archive includes a wealth of information, including details about MAFF's existence and dissolution.
Defra, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, replaced the Ministry of Agriculture UK.
Learn from mistakes in the Ministry of Agriculture of UK
In 2000, MAFF was widely criticized over its handling of research about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the 1980's.
I recommend: Highbeam can provide articles on the BSE (Mad Cow Disease) outbreak as well as the foot and mouth disease outbreak that precipitated MAFF's downfall. The
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/794) gives the closest thing to a first-hand glimpse at when, why, and how the ministry was finally dissolved.
Find contacts in the Ministry of Agriculture, Britain
So you're trying to track down old business contacts or make new ones. How do you find out who's gone where? All it takes is a phone call or e-mail to the right people.
I recommend: The
organizational charts for Defra will help you track down old government contacts that relocated from the ministry to the department.
Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, is an executive agency of Defra concerned specifically with the fisheries, and the
Central Science Laboratory, formerly an institute of the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, continues as a public sector science organization.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- The Food Standards Agency, created by a UK government act in 2000, is your contact for safety, hygiene, nutrition, labeling and packaging as they pertain to food in the United Kingdom. The Food Standards Agency also monitors the strict controls in place to protect UK citizens against another outbreak of BSE, the sort of event that brought about the demise of MAFF.
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