The government is hiring a team of experts to more closely align its stuttering Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) with the EU.
Set up by the previous government in response to Henry Dimbleby’s 2019 Food Strategy, the body has spent more than three years trying to come up with new systems for environmental interventions such as reporting data for Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and carbon labelling.
As revealed by The Grocer, much of the work of the FDTP was wound up last year and merged with the government’s Food Strategy, but work has continued on its so-called eco working group.
However, the latest announcement from Defra said it was looking to hire advisers to ensure that the next phase of the group’s work was “coherent, informed and influential”.
The Grocer understands a key objective will be to ensure that rather than “go out on a limb” with its own net zero policies, the FDTP ensures new projects are aligned to other initiatives in the EU, as well as further afield.
Defra said the “start and finish” group, which will work on a voluntary basis over the next two to three months, would seek to ensure that any FDTP policies were in future developed with more collaboration.
Sources told The Grocer the move was welcome and they hoped it would result in the FDTP proving more than just a “glorified talking shop”.
“For the first time ever it feels like somebody with a brain has taken over the running of this,” one source said.
“Part of that is the realisation that when it comes to developing big environmental projects like greenhouse gas reporting, it makes sense to work with those 27 countries in the EU who are among our closest trading partners.”
“International alignment is becoming increasingly important,” a Defra spokesman said. “A wide range of international organisations, standards bodies and initiatives are developing approaches in this space.
“To ensure UK activity is coherent, informed and influential, Defra is establishing a short-term International Task and Finish Group.
“The group will provide a structured assessment of the international landscape for relevant to environmental footprinting for agrifood. The group will help Defra and the wider FDTP understand where the UK should lead, influence or monitor.”
Defra also announced that it was setting up another group to oversee the new Food Data Infrastructure and Governance (FIG) project, which launched last month.
A consortium involving Wrap, the AHDB and the global consultancy Arup, the project was designed to improve the quality, consistency and accessibility of environmental impact data across the food supply chain.
Defra said it was establishing a steering group to “ensure that the project’s recommendations are credible, practical and fit for purpose across the food supply chain”.
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