Volume 9: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Part 1: Wales
4. Departmental responsibilities
Other bodies relevant to the BSE story
The Agriculture Advisory Panel for Wales
The Hill Farming Advisory Sub-Committee for Wales
National Farmers' Union (Wales) and Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW)

The Agriculture Advisory Panel for Wales

4.27 The Agriculture Advisory Panel for Wales was a non-statutory body offering independent advice to the Secretary of State. Meetings largely took the form of discussion of papers and oral reports submitted by WOAD officials. As with the Hill Farming Advisory Sub-Committee for Wales described below, meetings of this body were mainly concerned with coping with the impact of BSE on Welsh farming (and of the controls introduced to eradicate it) rather than offering advice on the scientific aspects of the disease. ¹

The Hill Farming Advisory Sub-Committee for Wales

4.28 The Hill Farming Advisory Sub-Committee for Wales was a statutory body which advised on the state of upland farming. Its members, appointed by the Secretary of State, were mainly farmers who met once or twice a year. There was some measure of cross-membership with the main Hill Farming Advisory Committee, whose remit covered England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

National Farmers' Union (Wales) and Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW)

4.29 Both of these organisations operated in Wales and WOAD communicated with both during the period 1986-96 on aspects of BSE affecting farmers in Wales, such as the level of compensation for slaughtered animals, the need for feed labelling, and falling beef prices. ²

4.30 The Farmers' Union of Wales was formed in 1955 as a breakaway group from the National Farmers' Union, and was officially recognised in 1977.