Agency signs up to sustainable policies

Friday 10 October 2008

The Food Standards Agency has taken a major step forward in formalising its commitment to sustainable development.

At its Board meeting in September, it agreed an approach that will ensure decisions made by the Agency are in line with the Government’s sustainability goal. This is to allow people all over the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better life, without compromising the quality of life of future generations.

The Agency’s work on food safety, health and protecting the interests of the consumer can all help to underpin and foster this objective.

Many of the Agency’s decisions impact on sustainability, which includes economic and environmental factors, alongside social ones.

For example, the Agency’s current advice on guidance on fish consumption – which falls into the social factor – is based on scientific evidence about the impact of fish on health and the potential safety effects of contaminants.

However, when that policy was made, the Agency would not have considered the environmental, wider social and economic sustainability of its advice.

The Agency’s move to put sustainability at the heart of its policymaking is part of a Government-wide strategy on sustainable development, incorporating this aspect in all policy decisions. With this approach, the Agency will choose the most sustainable policy option, unless there are exceptional reasons for doing otherwise. In these cases the reasons will be clearly communicated and efforts made to reduce negative impacts.

The approach is likely to lead to more cross-Government working. For example attempts to slow climate change by trying to reduce meat and dairy production, and which would have implications for the economic viability of farming and for our diet, would need to be considered across departments and agencies.

Agency Chair Deirdre Hutton said: ‘We had a very good discussion at the Board meeting today and we welcome the approach, which, while complex in nature, will contribute to ensuring that Agency policymaking continues to be of the highest quality.’