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The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom. Formal agreements also establish the frameworks for co-operation between Defra and the Scottish Government, the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales and with representatives from the Northern Ireland Assembly, which have delegated responsibilities for these matters in their respective nations.

Defra is also responsible for representing the UK at the European Union on agricultural, fisheries and environment matters and in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change, although a new Department of Energy and Climate Change was created in 2008 to take over this responsibility.

The headquarters of Defra are located on London.

History

Defra was formed in June 2001 when the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was merged with part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and with a small part of the Home Office. The department was created after the perceived failure of MAFF to deal adequately with the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease.

The Department had about 9,000 core personnel as of January 2008.

In October 2008, the climate team at Defra was merged with the energy team from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) to create the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Responsibilities

Defra is responsible for the UK Government's policy in the following areas:

Agriculture Air quality Animal health and welfare Biodiversity Conservation Chemicals and pesticides Fisheries

Flooding Food Forestry Hunting Inland waterways Land management Marine policy

National parks Noise Plant health Rural development Sustainable development Waste management Water management

Executive agencies

The executive agencies within Defra are:

• Animal Health
• Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
• Forest Research
• Forest Enterprise
• Food and Environment Research Agency
• Rural Payments Agency
• Veterinary Laboratories Agency
• Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Key delivery partners

The key delivery partners are:

• British Waterways
• Environment Agency
• Forestry Commission
• Natural England (launched on 11 October 2006), formerly English Nature and elements of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service.
• Marine Management Organisation (launched on 1 April 2010, incorporates the former Marine and Fisheries Agency)

A full list of departmental delivery and public bodies may be found on the Defra website.

Defra in the English regions

Policies for environment, food and rural affairs are delivered in the regions by Defra's executive agencies and delivery bodies, in particular Natural England, the Rural Payments Agency, Animal Health and the Marine Management Organisation. Increasingly, a range of policies are communicated locally by Government Offices for English Regions.

Defra provides grant aid to the following flood and coastal erosion risk management operating authorities:

• Environment Agency
• Internal Drainage Boards
• local authorities

Aim and strategic priorities

Defra's overarching aim is sustainable development, which is defined as "development which enables all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without compromising the quality of life of future generations." The Secretary of State wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister that he saw Defra’s mission as enabling a move toward what the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has called "one planet living".

Under this overarching aim, Defra has five strategic priorities:

• Climate change and energy.
• Sustainable consumption and production, including responsibility for the National Waste Strategy.
• Protecting the countryside and natural resource protection.
• Sustainable rural communities.
• A sustainable farming and food sector including animal health and welfare.

References

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