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Glyn Roberts.[/caption]
Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) president Glyn Roberts has highlighted the need for a fairer red meat levy distribution system in his final speech as a Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) board member.
Mr Roberts, who has been a member of the statutory Welsh meat promotion body’s board for more than a decade under different board structures, said he was standing down in order to give his new role as FUW president his complete devotion.
Speaking after his last board meeting on Monday (July 6), Mr Roberts said: “I have enjoyed my role as a HCC board member and seeing the organisation rise to a range of challenges in terms of the promotion of Welsh meat and industry development.
“However, there can be no doubt that the inequity in the current red meat levy distribution system has held us back to the detriment of Welsh farmers, particularly over recent years.”
Mr Roberts was referring to the system whereby levies collected from farmers and processors in countries in which animals are slaughtered are made to those countries’ meat promotion bodies - HCC in Wales; Quality Meat Scotland in Scotland; and the English Beef and Lamb Executive and British Pig Executive in England.
“This means that HCC’s levy funding does not come close to reflecting the number of animals born and raised in Wales, a problem which has got much worse since the closure of the Gaerwen slaughterhouse in North Wales, which has led to many more Welsh animals being slaughtered in England,” said Mr Roberts.
It is estimated that the closure of the Vion plant at Gaerwen in 2013 led to a drop of around £500,000 in HCC’s red meat levy funding, while the closure of a pork processing facility in Scotland in 2012 had a similarly detrimental impact on Quality Meat Scotland.
“The Farmers’ Union of Wales raised this imbalance with Rosemary Radcliffe in 2005 when she conducted her review of the levy bodies, but the issue was not addressed and we also wrote to Scottish stakeholder organisations in 2010 highlighting the need for action to be taken,” added Mr Roberts.
Responding to the recent Smith Commission report on further devolution for Scotland, which recommends that the Scottish Government be granted extra powers to opt into UK arrangements on red meat levies and receive an equitable share of those levies, Mr Roberts said: “The FUW has made it clear over the past decade that any such moves must be extended to Wales.
“The current levy distribution system is not fit for purpose and Welsh farmers are suffering as a result.
“The advent of EID and other technology means an equitable system should now be easier than ever to implement.”
Mr Roberts said that as a HCC board member his main responsibility had been to scrutinise HCC’s work from within, and that such scrutiny would now continue but from a different perspective.
“I would like to take this opportunity to wish the Board and staff of HCC every success,” he added.