Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: January 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs at DEFRA
• Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands from the Scottish Government
• Gillian Martin MSP, Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy from the Scottish Government
•  Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity from the Scottish Government
• Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs from the Welsh Government
• Andrew Muir MLA,  Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs from the Northern Ireland Executive

Items and actions

The Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (IMG EFRA) met on Monday 27 January by video conference.

The meeting was chaired by Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

The attending ministers were:

• (from the UK Government) Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
• (from the Scottish Government) Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, and Gillian Martin MSP, Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy
• (from the Welsh Government) Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
• (from the Northern Ireland Executive) Andrew Muir MLA, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

The meeting opened with a discussion on the latest work of the UK Government circular economy taskforce. Ministers agreed on the importance of the circular economy in achieving economic growth and shared environmental and climate ambitions. 

The group then held the first deep dive of the year, which focused on environmental land management. The work brought out some key themes that all four governments were aiming to achieve: sustainable food production, holistic farm support, and ensuring that environmental outcomes are delivered. To support this, ministers agreed for economists to share evaluation methodologies as schemes are launched in other parts of the UK, to collaborate more closely to harness the academic and scientific expertise across the UK, and to work together to share best practice on providing holistic support and advice to farmers. Devolved government ministers also shared their disappointment that Treasury ministers had not attended to discuss agricultural funding, as had been requested at the previous IMG.  

Following this, ministers discussed bovine electronic identification. They agreed that electronic identification was important for farm safety and traceability of livestock, and that officials will continue to engage on the implications of technology choices for electronic identification.   

The group then discussed the role and importance of involving the devolved governments in potential negotiations on developing a UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.  Ministers agreed that removing barriers to trade and maintaining biosecurity were of vital importance to all nations. Ministers agreed to continue positive engagement at official and ministerial level.  

The final substantive item was an update on the development of a UK Government food strategy. Ministers agreed to engage and collaborate on this where it was mutually advantageous. Ministers stressed the importance of respecting devolution in this work and discussed how this agenda was being progressed by each government. 

A range of other business was discussed including an update on the IMG work programme, common frameworks finalisation timescales, and an update from the UK Government on animal diseases.

The next meeting will take place in March 2025.