Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (German: Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsminɪsˌteːʁiʊm fyːɐ̯ ɛɐ̯ˈnɛːʁʊŋ ʊnt ˈlantvɪʁtʃaft] ), abbreviated BMEL, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its primary headquarters are located in Bonn with a secondary office in Berlin. From 1949 to 2001 it was known as the Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests (German: Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten). Through an organizational order by the German Chancellor on 22 January 2001, it became the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture after the Consumer protection function was transferred from the Federal Ministry for Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit). The name Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection was adopted on 22 November 2005 simply to alphabetize its functional parts in the German language. Due to the political restructurings of the 18th German Bundestag in December 2013 the division "Consumer Protection" was transferred to the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.

Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (BMEL)
Agency overview
Formed1949
JurisdictionGovernment of Germany
HeadquartersRochusstr. 1, 53123 Bonn
Employees920 (Feb. 2010)
Annual budget7.676 billion (2021)[1]
Minister responsible
Agency executives
Websitehttp://www.bmel.de
The BMEL headquarters in Bonn, Germany
BMEL offices on Wilhelmstraße, Berlin

Organization

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The current Minister for Food and Agriculture is Cem Özdemir. The Parliamentary State Secretaries are Silvia Bender, Claudia Müller (politician) and Ophelia Nick.[2] In addition to the Ministry Management (including management staff), it consists of eight departments (as of September 2020):[3]

  • Department 1: Central Division
  • Department 2: Consumer health protection, nutrition, product safety
  • Department 3: Food safety, animal health
  • Department 4: Agricultural markets, food industry, export
  • Department 5: Forests, sustainability, renewable raw materials
  • Department 6: EU affairs, international cooperation, fisheries
  • Department 7: Agricultural production, horticulture, agricultural policy
  • Department 8: Rural development, digital innovation

Agencies

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Under the auspices of the BMEL are various Federal agencies, legally independent institutions under public law and government research institutes:

Federal ministers

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bundeshaushalt". www.bundeshaushalt.de. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  2. ^ "BMEL - State Secretaries". www.bmel.de. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Organisationsplan des Bundesministeriums für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft" (PDF). bmel.de (in German). Retrieved 29 July 2023.
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