Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany)
| Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (BMEL) | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1949 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Germany |
| Headquarters | Rochusstr. 1, 53123 Bonn |
| Employees | 920 (Feb. 2010) |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executives |
|
| Website | http://www.bmel.de |
The Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (German: Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft), abbreviated BMEL, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its headquarters are located in Bonn with a second major 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 on 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.
Organization
The current Minister for Food and Agriculture is Christian Schmidt. The Parliamentary State Secretaries are Maria Flachsbarth and Peter Bleser. Robert Kloos is the Permanent State Secretary. In addition to the Ministry Management (including management staff), it consists of six departments (as of October 2014):
- Department 1: Central Division
- Department 2: Nutrition, product safety, innovation
- Department 3: Food safety, animal health
- Department 4: Rural Development, Agricultural markets
- Department 5: Bio-based economy, sustainable agriculture and forestry
- Department 6: EU policy, International cooperation, fisheries
Agencies
Under the auspices of the BMEL are various Federal agencies, legally independent institutions under public law and government research institutes:
- Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety
- Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food
- Federal Office of Plant Varieties
- Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)
- Julius Kühn-Institut, Federal Research Center for Cultivated Plants
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health
- Max Rubner-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Nutrition and Food
- Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries
- Agency for Renewable Resources
Federal Ministers
Political Party: CSU CDU FDP SPD Green
| Name (Born-Died) |
Party | Term of Office | Chancellor (Cabinet) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests | |||||
| Wilhelm Niklas (1887–1957) |
CSU | 20 September 1949 | 20 October 1953 | Adenauer (I) | |
| Heinrich Lübke (1894–1972) |
CDU | 20 October 1953 | 15 September 1959 | Adenauer (II • III) | |
| Werner Schwarz (1900–1982) |
CDU | 30 September 1959 | 26 October 1965 | Adenauer (III • IV • V) Erhard (I) | |
| Hermann Höcherl (1912–1989) |
CSU | 26 October 1965 | 21 October 1969 | Erhard (II) Kiesinger (I) | |
| Josef Ertl (1925–2000) |
FDP | 22 October 1969 | 17 September 1982 | Brandt (I • II) Schmidt (I • II • III) | |
| Björn Engholm (b. 1939) |
SPD | 17 September 1982 | 1 October 1982 | Schmidt (III) | |
| Josef Ertl (1925–2000) |
FDP | 4 October 1982 | 29 March 1983 | Kohl (I) | |
| Ignaz Kiechle (1930–2003) |
CSU | 30 March 1983 | 21 January 1993 | Kohl (II • III • IV) | |
| Jochen Borchert (b. 1940) |
CDU | 21 January 1993 | 26 October 1998 | Kohl (IV • V) | |
| Karl-Heinz Funke (b. 1946) |
SPD | 27 October 1998 | 12 January 2001 | Schröder (I) | |
| Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture | |||||
| Renate Künast (b. 1955) |
Green | 12 January 2001 | 4 October 2005 | Schröder (I • II) | |
| Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection | |||||
| Horst Seehofer (b. 1949) |
CSU | 22 November 2005 | 27 October 2008 | Merkel (I) | |
| Ilse Aigner (b. 1964) |
CSU | 31 October 2008 | 30 September 2013 | Merkel (I • II) | |
| Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture | |||||
| Hans-Peter Friedrich (b. 1957) |
CSU | 17 December 2013 | 14 February 2014 | Merkel (III) | |
| Christian Schmidt (b. 1957) |
CSU | 14 February 2014 | Incumbent | ||
See also
- List of Federal Ministers of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (Germany)
- Julius Kühn-Institut
- Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)
