Lord Curry to open the BCPC Congress 2016

Lord Curry of Kirkharle will give the opening address at this year’sBCPC Congress, entitled, “The competitiveness of British agriculture” – asking, “is regulation a hindrance or a help?”

Lord Curry is chair of the UK Government’s Better Regulation Executive, and of the EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee, and is Trustee of Rothamsted Research. He chaired the Policy Commission on the Future if Farming and Food, and the Meat and Livestock Committees and has been Vice Chair of the Scottish Agricultural College.

“It is very clear that excessive regulation can stifle investment and impact innovation and competitiveness in global markets,” says Lord Curry. “A balance needs to be struck between well-designed and enforced regulation in order to protect consumers and the environment whilst retaining the confidence of our customers. The overuse of the precautionary principle and a hazard-based approach in the EU can deter investment. The regulation-creating culture needs to be appropriate in order to attract greater investment and make the EU increasingly competitive in global markets.”

The 2016 BCPC Congress, at the Hilton Metropole, Brighton, UK on 4-5 October is organised by BCPC (the British Crop Production Council), in association with TSGE Forum. This year’s Congress theme will be “Changes in European Agriculture – How the Regulatory Environment might Adapt”.

Delegate registration is now open ­–www.bcpccongress.org/registerDetails of all the Congress speakers and programme can be found on the Congress website at:www.bcpccongress.orgor email: TSGE Forum atenquiries@tsgeforum.com.