Meeting of the Parliament 13 September 2018
I am glad to speak in this debate, which has been designed by the Scottish Government to celebrate the success story of our food and drinks industry. There is indeed much to celebrate.
Before I move on to my amendment, I, too, want to mention our whisky industry. With more than 10,000 people directly employed by the industry and with the highest ever level of exports, the industry is thriving. About 30 new distilleries are being planned to add to the 128 that are already well established, and with the industry accounting for more than 70 per cent of Scottish food and drink exports, it is good news all round. However, in the time that I have, I want to focus on some of the threats that we face when we are trying to grow our food and drinks industry.
The Scottish whisky industry is all about quality, and that is the main reason why it accounts for more than 70 per cent of our food and drink exports. It is all about the perception and the reality of quality.
Now, I want to focus on my amendment. Scottish farmed salmon also has a reputation with consumers around the world for being quality produce, and part of our job is to ensure that it remains so and to provide for the proper regulation of the industry, so that it is fit for purpose.
Members will be aware of the short inquiry by the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, which concluded that the status quo surrounding the regulation of our farmed salmon industry is not acceptable. The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee has conducted its own inquiry, and we are now working on our report. Obviously, I make no comment on the discussions around the draft report—it would be wrong to do so—but I can comment on my own view of the evidence that was presented in public session.
We should all want a thriving and effective salmon industry. There should not be two opposing sides—the farmed salmon industry and those who are involved in our river fisheries. It is surely in everyone’s interests that the environmental issues facing our fish farms are effectively addressed as soon as possible. If the problems are ignored by the regulators, there is a danger that consumer confidence will be adversely affected. That would be tragic for all concerned, but especially for those who are employed in this growing and important industry.
I have every confidence that our committee, after taking evidence over so many weeks, will come to a balanced and constructive view as to the way forward, but we will have to wait for our report to be published in due course.
Unfortunately, there is another issue that threatens to undermine our food industry’s reputation for quality. On Monday, BBC Scotland showed a documentary about the export for slaughter last year of more than 5,000 young cattle that were only three or four weeks old, with some of them reaching slaughterhouses outside the EU, with all that that means. In the chamber on 6 June, I said to the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, as others did, that the concern was not about direct exports from Scotland but about Scottish animals ending up in Spain and north Africa for slaughter.