THE planned restructuring of the five agricultural and horticultural levy boards, including the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA), promises a more focused, efficient and cross-sector approach to industry issues, said Jonathan Cowens, HGCA chief executive.
Yet details of the changes just announced by the government, after a review by former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Rosemary Radcliffe, are still to be settled, said Cowens.
In April 2008, the five levy boards that producers pay for – the HGCA, the British Potato Council, the Meat and Livestock Commission, the Milk Development Council and the Horticulture Development Council – will be replaced by a statutory board with sector specific companies. The HGCA is likely to become its sector company.
“It’s not a long way away,” said Cowens about April 2008. “There’s still a lot to do.” The HGCA will continue unchanged until details of the restructuring have been settled. Cowens said the grain sector broadly supported continuation of the levy system.
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