Official Report search · Parliament Workbench

Chamber

Plenary, 06 Feb 2003

06 Feb 2003 · S1 · Plenary

Item of business

Organic Farming Targets (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Harper, Robin Green Lothians Watch on SPTV

It is with great pleasure that I invite the Parliament to approve the general principles of the Organic Farming Targets (Scotland) Bill. This small but beautiful bill could make a considerable contribution to organic farming in Scotland and to a healthy future for our economy and environment. It would create many jobs, produce healthy food, reduce pesticide input, restore soil fertility and encourage an abundance of wildlife.

When I first lodged a proposal for a bill in February 2000—more than three years ago—I was enormously encouraged by the cross-party response. Thirty-eight members signed up, and had it not been for the cut-off time of a month, it might have gathered even more signatures. Certainly, it was the most-subscribed-to proposal for a member's bill in the Parliament until the high hedges outgrew us, so to speak.

I wish to express my gratitude to all those who had an input to the bill. I thank the Rural Development Committee, its clerks and its convener Alex Fergusson for the constructive way in which they addressed stage 1. The committee took evidence from a wide range of interests; not all were supportive, although I hasten to add that the great majority were. I also thank the dozen witnesses who gave evidence in person and the 33 people and organisations that submitted written evidence. Thanks are also due to the Transport and the Environment Committee and, most important, to the non-Executive bills unit, particularly David Cullum and Rodger Evans, who assisted greatly.

The impetus for the bill derived from a packed meeting, which took place in the committee chambers over three years ago, with more than 70 stakeholders from conventional and organic farming interests throughout Scotland. The steering group for the bill subsequently assembled and then undertook an extensive written public consultation in early 2001. The proposal was modified as a result of that consultation.

The bill, which was finally introduced on 30 September 2002, is short and straightforward. According to its long title—the word "long" is a misnomer in this case—the bill requires the Scottish ministers to set organic farming targets, to produce a plan for achieving those targets and to report annually to the Scottish Parliament on progress.

I will give members a flavour of the range of support for the bill outside the Parliament. Those who consider the bill a good thing include the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Asda, the Transport and General Workers Union Scotland, the Scottish Agricultural College, the Socialist Environment and Resources Association Scotland, Sainsbury's, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Unison, the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Soil Association, RSPB Scotland, the Co-operative Group and the Crofters Commission. A further 71 organisations and, as I am sure that members know from their in-trays and inboxes, hundreds of individuals support the bill. Perhaps I could add Mr McConnell to that list, as I understand from no less an authority than the august Sunday Herald that our First Minister is an enthusiast for all things organic.

Paragraph 34 of the Rural Development Committee's stage 1 report on the bill quotes a written submission from the Highlands and Islands Organic Association that nicely captures the ethos of organic farming and the essence of my bill. The quotation might also provide a sense that my bill is not merely about targets and action plans—it is much more than that. The submission said:

"Organic food production is not just about less chemicals and more manure, it is about a new relationship between farmers, working with consumers and other local organisations to put the ‘culture' back into agriculture. Statutory targets are the important headline that will make this happen, and farmers are the people who will make it work."

I suggest that public debate has moved on since the 1980s and 1990s and that the question whether organic farming is desirable has been replaced by the question of how organic production can be increased sustainably. My bill seeks to address that.

I welcome the Rural Development Committee's statement that its members want a vigorous organic sector that is supported fairly. I welcome the committee's conviction that targets should be set for increasing organic production and that those targets should form part of an action plan, which must be produced to stimulate an increase.

However, I was a little disappointed by the committee's scepticism about including targets in the bill. I will elaborate on my approach and why I took it. The principle of setting targets is important because it provides a tangible, quantifiable and useful approach. To put it simply, targets are things to aim for. The target is our destination; the action plan is the means of getting there—the map. It would not be sensible to have one without the other.

Wales has set a 10 per cent target for 2005. England has set an organic import substitution target for 2010. Targets have also been set in Europe. Countries such as Sweden and Denmark deploy targets in a legislative framework. The use of targets in UK legislation is not new. I refer members to statutes on school standards, national policing, utilities and local government and I even refer them to one of my favourite statutes—the Environment Act 1995. All those statutes use targets.

Search Hansard contributions

Plenary, 06 Feb 2003

In the same item of business