Need to devolve promotional activity without diluting marketing benefits MLC restructure set to create EBLEX body Proposals for restructuring the Meat and Livestock Commission to reflect devolution and producers' desire for increased emphasis on regional promotion have been broadly welcomed by the industry. MLC director general Gwyn Howells has described the initial response as "a go-ahead" for the creation of a new entity to promote English beef and lamb, in parallel with Quality Meat Scotland and the similar organisation being set up in Wales. Much of the MLC in its present form would operate as a service organisation providing key skills such as economic forecasting and export promotion to the English, Welsh and Scottish bodies. However, Howells acknowledged consultation had revealed "fear of fragmentation". At an informal press briefing to summarise the submissions received from industry lobbyists by June 30, the message from the MLC was of a need to devolve promotional activity without diluting the marketing benefits. "This has evoked a lot of passion," said Howells. "Some have challenged the process of devolution. There is a remarkable consensus on the need for the proposed changes, but an awareness of the MLC as a world class organisation." A recurrent theme in the submissions received was "very strong spontaneous support for keeping the British Meat brand, and the belief its promotion should be one core role for the MLC". Howells pointed to marketing practices in other sectors as offering hints for avoiding damaging clashes in meat promotion tactics: "We must have segmentation, not fragmentation." The MLC's export department would be able to coordinate activities supporting the British Meat brand along with Scotch Beef, Welsh Lamb and the English meats in much the same way as sales executives in fmcg firms managed brand portfolios. Some key components of the new structure were still subject to negotiation. The future shape of BPEX might in theory be altered to take account of Scottish pig producers' needs. However, the probability was of a body named EBLEX being formed to represent producers and processors of English beef and lamb, and the role of the MLC as provider of core services, would be formalised. "The process moves into the next stage on October 1, and everything should be up and running by the end of this financial year [March 31, 2003]," said Howells. {{MEAT }}