Kensington, England, United Kingdom
The agricultural counsellor in London manages the Dutch agricultural teams at the embassies in the UK and Ireland.
As Chief Phytosanitary Officer I coordinated the phytosanitary market access team of the Ministry of Agriculture. Our aim was (and is) to create and maintain market access for Dutch plants and plant products in third countries (outside the EU) by negotiating the (plant health) conditions which have to be fulfilled by the Dutch exporters with the relevant authorities. It requires close co-operation with the European Commission, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority NVWA, Agricultural Counsellors, Agricultural Inspection Agencies and the branch organisations of exporters of plants and plant products.
As Agricultural Counsellor in Moscow I was leading the agricultural team of four people. Our focus was on developing agri-business relations with Russia and Kazakhstan. At the same time I was Head Economy of the embassy, responsible for the co-oordination of the whole economic team. 2013 saw the succesful organisation of many promotional and business events and meetings during the bilateral year Russia-The Netherlands. After the introduction of trade sanctions the focus changed to informing and advising Dutch companies with existing business relations. Work in a very complicated political environment.
As Agricultural Counsellor I was based at the Netherlands Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. My working area included the Gulf region (GCC countries) as well as Iran (until 2010). My main responsibilities were trade and investment promotion of Dutch agrofood business, identifying business opportunities for private sector as wel as for knowledge institutions, advising governmental and private parties on market developments in Gulf region, organising trade missions, seminars, workshops and dealing with market access problems. The agricultural team which I led counted 5 people in 4 different locations (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Teheran). Special areas of attention were water saving production techniques, green city development and the start of pilot projects to develop horticultural demonstration centers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia together with WUR.
This regional policy department of the ministry of agriculture with a staff of 50 people was representing the ministry of Agriculture in the southern provinces of The Netherlands: Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland. I was manager of a group of approximately 15 policy officers. In this role I was co-responsible for administrative consultations with regional governors (gedeputeerden) on specific topics regarding the implementation and financing of LNV policies in the southern region, both on agriculture and nature conservation through regional rural development plans.
As agricultural counsellor my working area included South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. My main job was to organize missions, visits and events to promote the Dutch agrifood business in the region and to develop small nature conservation projects. South Africa was still in the early years after the end of the Apartheid regime. Besides the development of commercial opportunities there was increasingly attention for the development aspects of small scale agriculture, supported by special instruments of EVD. Special attention was given to develop the logistical chains with Dutch technology of SA fruit exports to The Netherlands after the abolishment of the state-export monopoly. In Zimbabwe the development of the flower export industry was supported but it came to a stand still after settlers started to occupy commercial farms.
I was the representative of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture in Brazil, Argentina and Chili. My main tasks were to identify and create business opportunities for the Dutch agribusiness by supplying information, creating contacts and linking them with potential Dutch counterparts, organizing trade missions and Dutch pavillions at trade fairs. Besides that there was special attention for nature conservation policies, mainly in relation to the preservation of tropical rain forests. Most important sectors were the intensive livestock industry, flower and horticultural industry and the dairy sector. The (formerly) Dutch agricultural colonies in the southern parts of Brazil were important starting points for developing bilateral relations.