Tim Farron – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2014-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase agricultural exports as part of the export-led recovery.

George Eustice

Defra and UKTI with industry are working together to increase exports in the agri-food sector. We launched a refreshed Exports Action Plan last October. It commits us to deliver £500m of value to the UK economy by supporting 1,000 companies by October 2015. Food and drink exports in 2013 reached £18.9bn, against £18.2bn in 2012, and are now 50% higher than 10 years ago. UKTI has established a dedicated team with civil servants and industry experts to improve the value and volume of inward investment and exports in agricultural technology. This team is working with UKTI posts overseas to help UK based agri-technology companies succeed in international markets.