MEP completes conference line-up

Anthea McIntrye, MEP, completes the line-up for the HTA Plant Health Conference to be held on Wednesday 17 February. The event is taking place at the National Agri-Food Innovation Campus at Sand Hutton, near York, and is held in partnership with the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Providing the keynote address, Anthea will give the latest headlines on the new EU plant health strategy. The new regulations will be more comprehensive and bring in new responsibilities for all professional planting operations, as well as introducing compensation packages. With the UK referendum looming, Anthea will set out what it would mean if we left the EU and yet still wanted to trade in plants.

Serving on the Agriculture Committee, Anthea McIntyre (Conservative – West Midlands Region) became an MEP in 2011. She wrote a report on ?The future of Europe’s horticulture sector – strategies for growth?, which was adopted by the European Parliament in 2014. She has now written a further report on ?Technological Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture in the EU?. Anthea is also the rapporteur for the legislation on ?Protective Measures against Pests of Plants?, which has recently concluded trilogue negotiations between the European institutions.

According to the HTA, the conference aims to clarify everyone’s roles and responsibilities across plant health issues, bringing together nurseries, retailers, specifiers, landscapers, inspectors and regulators. ?The content will provide delegates with all they need to know in order to comply with plant health legislation and to safeguard the UK,? the organisation said.