 The next item of business this afternoon is a debate on motion 13876, in the name of Fergus Ewing, on celebrating Scotland's food and drink success story. I would invite members who wish to speak in this debate to press their request to speak buttons now, and I call on the cabinet secretary to speak to and move the motion. Presiding Officer, let me seek to be helpful by starting off this debate today by re-emphasising Scottish Government's commitment to provide legislation to underpin Scotland as a good food nation. We are committed to achieving that, and I am pleased today to reaffirm our clear commitment to bring forward legislation in this session of Parliament. This week we published a programme of measures setting out our progress all across government. It is a considerable volume of good work that is being carried out or is planned, showing that we are well in course towards the objective of Scotland becoming a good food nation. I am grateful to the Conservatives in their motion amendment for welcoming that this is a good, solid contribution to the debate. I am also writing to the Rural Economy and Welfare Committee to seek their views on this programme and on the good food nation concept generally, as I wish to obtain parliamentary input. Presiding Officer, there is no instruction manual or agreed definition of what makes a country a good food nation. Therefore, the concept and the reality is relatively new. It is therefore right and I believe necessary that we take time to deliberate on how we achieve our aims. In the spirit of seeking to maintain across all political parties a broadly consensual approach, I am pleased to say that we shall be accepting the amendments today from the Labour, Lib Dems and Green parties. I regret extending support to the Conservative amendment because it deletes the part of our motion that points out that a hard Brexit or a no-deal Brexit would put at risk the success of Scotland's food and drink sector. Some of the points contained in the Labour and Green amendments provide helpful guidance on where to point the consultation on legislative proposals. It is crucial that we still consult the public and key stakeholders to further the shape and content of a good food nation. It is fitting that the debate is taking place during Scotland's food and drink fortnight. This important annual event supports and promotes Scottish produce and the people who grow, make, cook and sell it. Once again, the event has provided a wonderful opportunity for the food and drink industry to showcase its achievements. This year, food and drink fortnight is aligned to the year of young people and is themed around the future of the industry. I am absolutely committed to ensuring that young people have both the skills and the support to allow them to play a full part in the success of the industry, and I was delighted to meet some of the Scotland food and drink's new young ambassadors at the launch of the fortnight. Those inspiring young people give me great confidence for the future. The food and drink industry is vital to Scotland. It creates jobs and wealth. It impacts positively on health and sustainability, and it helps to attract visitors by promoting our food and drink around the world. Let me pay tribute to our farmers and our crofters of fishermen, brewers and distillers who produce our high-quality food and drink. The industry is now worth around £14,000 million annually, with turnover up 35 per cent since 2007, and exports reached a record £6,000 million last year, up 70 per cent from 2007. The success shows no sign of slowing down. First, growth of turnover in food manufacturing in Scotland is double the growth of growth in England. Second, the birth rate of new businesses in the food and drink sector is higher than anywhere in the UK. Third, whisky, one of our most famous and enjoyed exports, continues to be a global phenomenon. We ship 39 bottles every second of every day to 182 global markets from our many distilleries in Scotland. It is a hugely impressive statistics, and I am sure that you will agree. I am indebted to the person who computed that particular interesting statistic. At the heart of the success has been our reputation. Our brand, founded on provenance and heritage, is increasingly recognised at home and in premium markets. None of that could be achieved without the passion, dedication and entrepreneurship of the many people working across the industry, and I value both their skills and their commitment. Those qualities will be required in abundance as we face the considerable challenges that are presented by the UK's likely exit from Europe. The Scottish Government has always supported the closest possible relationship with the EU that avoids tariffs and other trade barriers for our food and drink products. No-deal Brexit would be, in our view, deeply damaging and disruptive for the food and drink sector, and that is made clear in our motion, which the Conservative amendment would delete. Those include our geographical indications. It is inconceivable that we will not have our brands properly protected, such as Stornoway Black, Pudding, Arbrose, Moches and Scotch-Whiskey. It is vital that we secure a sensible outcome, and I will continue to express our concerns to UK ministers. In relation to Scotch-Whiskey and PGI, is it not also vital that we preserve the minimum three years that whisky has kept in bond, which is an important contributor to the quality of the product? We know that there are pressures from other markets, notably the United States, to get that reduced to one year to the level of playingful with their Bourbon and other American whiskeys. I agree with the view that the cabinet secretary expresses. It is vital that we get a sensible outcome in respect of geographical indications, and I will continue to express our concerns to UK ministers when I meet them once again on Monday next week. It is exactly a year since I stood in this Parliament and spoke about the exciting new food and drink strategy that is being led by the industry, Ambition 2030. The ambitious plan of action from an ambitious industry aims to grow the industry to £30 million by 2030. I have every confidence that it can succeed with the help of this Government's long-established commitment to this sector, and indeed £10 million of direct investment is being provided to support Ambition 2030. Much has been achieved during the year, including continued efforts to promote and showcase the industry in Scotland and abroad at trade shows in Brussels, Boston, Japan and Hong Kong. A range of programmes to support businesses such as the supplier accreditation programme seeking to help business to achieve BRC standard. On-going investment through our European grant schemes, including some of our largest grants to Albert Barclayt for a new packaging facility and Scott Beef towards a new abattoir and processing facility, world-class facilities assisted with support from the Scottish Government. Publication of a number of sectoral action plans covering fruit and vegetables, pigs and, just last week, venison, and more will follow over the coming months. Those represent a series of practical actions to drive economic growth in the sectors. Out with Ambition 2030, we have been busy with many new policies that contribute to the development of the food and drink sector. The First Minister launched our new food tourism action plan in August in Arran, which aims to double by 2030 the amount that visitors spend on food and drink. We recently launched a regional food fund of £250,000 to support growth in Scotland's local and regional food and drink sector. We appointed Gary McLean, as our national chef, to showcase our quality produce and encourage understanding and use of healthy and sustainable food. Gary has done great work since his appointment, not least in encouraging an interest in cooking in both schools and the wider community. Mark Ruskell is clearly a lot of work, a lot of groups that have been commissioned, a lot of appointments. Can you ask him about the Scottish Food Commission, the recommendations of which he received in December 2017, but have yet to respond to them? When will he respond to them? If I may, I am coming on to that section in my speech, so I will deal with it then, if that is an order. The programme for government last week underlined our on-going commitment to the future of the food and drink sector. We announced a whole range of actions, including that by March 2019 we will publish a new food and drink five-year export plan and bring forward new measures to promote and market our produce overseas. We will be expanding the sectors that are covered by food and drink sectoral plans to include beef, sheep, dairy, poultry and craft beer. We will take action to streamline and simplify our support for food and drink businesses to ensure that they can access the right support both quickly and effectively. The programme also highlighted our future plans for a policy area that I know is of particular interest to many of you, the Good Food Nation Bill, to which I will now come. Our vision is for Scotland to be a good food nation by 2025, a place where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in and benefit from the food that they produce, buy, cook, serve and eat. Our exciting new agenda for establishing a good food nation set a real ambition for improving not just the health and wellbeing of all the people of Scotland but also the economy and the environment. We established the Food Commission in February 2015 to support the work on the Good Food Nation policy. I attended their final meeting in June and thanked the commissioners for their important work to develop proposals for taking forward the Good Food Nation agenda. Recommendations submitted by the commission have provided me and my colleagues with some valuable options for the direction of travel with this important policy. In considering options for the future, it has become clear that legislation is not the only answer. So much excellent work is already being done across government, local government and Scotland to contribute to the Good Food Nation agenda. This week, I published a good food nation programme of measures that sets out the full range of work that is under way. It is a fantastic record of the commitment that we have to the food and drink industry, to the education and health of our people, to the sustainability of the environment and the vibrancy of the sector's contribution to our economy. I am proud to publish a document that provides such overwhelming evidence of the wide-ranging work that is going on across government to deliver on the Good Food Nation ambition. We are not complacent. We want to do more. The programme therefore highlights a number of specific new policies that we are planning in order to help us to meet our Good Food Nation ambition. For example, we have consulted on the recommendations of the review of school food and drink regulations that aim to bring them in closer alignment with Scottish dietary goals. That includes proposals to further reduce sugar and increase consumption of fruit and vegetables. We are increasing the fair food fund budget from £1.5 million to £3.5 million in 2019-20. That will enable us to continue with our work to promote food delivery models that embrace the dignified food principles. We plan to create more opportunities for more primary school children to have the chance to visit a farm to raise their awareness of where their food comes from and the role farmers play as food producers and custodians of the countryside. We continue to work towards our target of reducing all food waste in Scotland by 33 per cent by 2025 against the 2013 baseline. Suggested measures to achieve the target will be published in our Food Waste Action Plan later this year. Those are all great examples of policies that contribute to the Good Food Nation. I confirm that we are committed to consulting that in detail in the autumn. I welcome the contribution of Parliament, individual parties and, of course, the Food Commission, which has provided a solid basis of recommendations, which, of course, in the consultation will be explored further. In closing, I had the opportunity to visit many food and drink businesses. It is a great pleasure. Just this morning, I visited the Glasgow-based Lowman Fine Foods Ltd, which was set up 21 years ago by Sam and Barbara Henderson. I am now thriving with great growth and success. They supply many of Scotland's excellent convenience stores, including food to go, where they are a leading supplier, and they are also taking effective action to reduce their carbon footprint. That and so many other businesses are a true credit to Scotland, and they offer great opportunities for the future. The evidence, Presiding Officer, is there for all to see that the food and drink industry in Scotland is a real success story and worthy of celebration. So much is being achieved in terms of supporting and growing the industry and it is in a good place. The industry makes an excellent contribution to our work towards becoming a good food nation, work that is supported right across Government. Our Good Food Nation progress report is an excellent summary of the work that is being done and planned to ensure that we continue to deliver on our vision. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I commend the motion in my name and hope that members can support it. I now call on Donald Cameron to speak to and move amendment 13876.1 in his name. I thank you, Presiding Officer, and I would like to begin by moving that amendment in my name and also refer to my register of interests and, within that register, farming agriculture and the fact that I am a non-executive director of Murray Income, a company that has food and drink investments. I am very pleased to be able to open for the Scottish Conservatives in this very important and timely debate on an issue that is of significance not only to my Highlands and Islands region, which I represent, but to the whole of Scotland. I share many of the sentiments expressed by the cabinet secretary, and I hope that, with some exceptions, this will be a generally consensual debate, because Scotland rightly prides itself on the high-quality offering in our food and drink sector. That was evident at last night's event here in Parliament, which was hosted by John Scott and was attended by many of us, including the cabinet secretary, where there was a small but impressive showcase from what is an incredible sector. I was particularly impressed to hear from the four young people who work in the industry who are all so optimistic about their future and, indeed, their inspirational messages to other young people that this is a thriving industry. There is clear evidence that the food and drink sector is growing and thriving, and I am sure that during this debate we are going to be treated to a smorgasbord of delicious examples of food and drink from across Scotland and locally. The most recent export statistics show that exports from the manufacturing of food and drink beverages increased by £270 million to £5.5 billion in 2016 and that turnover is up by 36 per cent over the last decade. The Food and Drink Federation of Scotland estimates that a further 27,000 jobs will be required in the sector over the next 10 years, highlighting the growth opportunities in food and drink. Those are phenomenal achievements by the sector. All sides of the political divide will surely welcome them. In the Highlands and Islands, which I could talk about forever but will talk about briefly, whenever I visit a local food or drink business, they talk optimistically about their future. For instance, it is well known that the Highlands and Islands has seen a boom in gin production with new distilleries opening in Barra, on Harris, Tyree and Marl over the last few years. I do not want to be accused of favouritism by naming certain products, but it is instructive that the Scotland office has noted that 70 per cent of gin production in the UK comes from Scotland, which I think is an incredible feat for our country. Whiskey should, of course, be mentioned. Some members will be delighted to know that, on Islay, the new Ardnohode distillery is practically in full swing, with other new distilleries mooted. It may be that the number of distilleries on Islay goes back into double figures for the first time in a long time. On a national level, we as the party welcome the Scottish Government's recent announcement to help to grow the food and drink sector further and to support the aim to deliver an additional £1 billion to Scotland's economy by 2030 via the Food Tourism Scotland Action Plan that the cabinet secretary referred to just now. We all know and recognise the importance of continuing to grow the Scottish brand worldwide and, in particular, targeting new and emerging markets for the various products that we have to offer. From exporting whisky to Africa, boosted recently by the successful registration of Scotch whisky as a trademark in South Africa, to the welcome news last year that Haggis would now be allowed to be imported into Canada, Scotland's offering to the world is growing, and this is plainly to be welcomed. I would now like to touch on the Good Food Nation Bill, because we on these benches and others are concerned about the fact that the bill appears to have been downgraded into a programme in last week's programme for government. The Good Food Nation Bill is, in our view, an important measure, not only to support growth of Scottish food and drink abroad but fundamentally to increase domestic access to it, too. Introducing such a bill over the next year would be a great opportunity to join up the Government's approach to food and drink in terms of agriculture, environment, health, education, planning and licensing to list just some example. It has, in our view, the potential to really make a difference in the fight to make Scotland a healthier and more sustainable nation, too. The fact of the matter is that, if the Scottish Government wanted to embody the kind of bold ambition that the First Minister referred to prior to announcing the programme for government, it would commit to introducing the legislation sooner rather than later. After all, the bill was mooted back in the 2016 programme for government and in last year's programme for government, and it was in the SNPZO manifesto in 2016. Where has that ambition gone? Why the delay? I welcome the cabinet secretary's words at the start of his speech, and I genuinely have no doubt in his and the Government's sincerity when it comes to their support of this policy, I just do not understand their reticence and reluctance to get going now. Questions have been asked by many individuals and organisations outside Parliament about the rationale for downgrading this plan, and others will question why there is not a more concrete commitment to legislate soon. WWF Scotland said that a good food nation bill would provide the legislative means to tackle the significant challenges of Scotland's current food system. Peter Ritchie of Nourish Scotland acknowledged the cross-party support for the bill and said that it was set a new direction of travel for food in Scotland. Scotland has all the ingredients to deliver, he said, and the public are behind it. We just need the political will. Both of these charities are part of the largest Scottish food coalition, the chair of which has described the announcement last week as disappointing. Given the positive legislation in the programme for government, it was an ideal chance for the Scottish Government to bring forward some new legislation to be bold, to be radical and to be brave. We do not understand why a bill that commands such wide cross-party support, the backing of charities, the agricultural sector and the wider public looks like it will be kicked into the long grass. It is abundantly clear, not just from an industry. I could ask Mr Cameron if he welcomes the fact that we are having a public consultation on this using the basis of the commission report and the progress report, and that it is surely sensible with something that is novel, new, where there is no instruction manual or kit, that we take time to get it right, we deliberate and above all that we consult the public and the stakeholders, including all political parties in this Parliament. I absolutely agree that we should consult the public. I just do not think that that is a reason to delay introducing a bill. We believe that, with Scotland having one of the worst obesity records among the OECD countries, with two-thirds of adults in Scotland classes overweight, with health inequalities which are stark and in many cases where there is a lack of access to good-quality food, that is why the legislation is so important. While the legislation may not necessarily deliver the change, it is the key to unlocking or enabling that change. I would, in the time remaining, like to mention geographical indicators, because we do recognise the serious concerns about geographical indicators, particularly in the context of the UK's exit from the European Union. I do not dispute, for a moment, their vital importance to the sector, to prevent cheap imitations internationally and to preserve the history of products and their heritage, from stawn away black pudding to our brode smokies. I am encouraged that the UK Government has stated clearly in its future relationship document that the UK will be establishing its own GI scheme after exit and will provide a clear and simple set of rules on GIs and continuous protection for UK GIs in the UK. I would also draw Parliament's attention to the evidence of the Secretary of State, David Mundell, last week here in this Parliament, where he said, and I quote, "...it is our intention that the existing arrangements with the EU will remain exactly as they are, that we should have such arrangements in any future trade deals and that we will make arrangements in our laws in Scotland and the United Kingdom to ensure that protection." I know that the Cabinet Secretary is meeting David Mundell next week, and I hope that this is an item for them to discuss. I acknowledge entirely the concern about GIs, and that is why we have mentioned it at the start of our amendment. Of course, the continuation of a GI scheme is not just beneficial for businesses in Scotland but important for businesses across the United Kingdom. We think that there is a cross-party consensus to see major change in the way that we think of food and the way that people access to it. There is, I think, disappointment that the SNP Government has downgraded the good food nation bill in their programme for government. We believe that if the SNP really wants to drive forward real change, it will bring forward a good food nation bill over the next 12 months, and we will work with them to make sure that it delivers for the people of Scotland. Thank you very much. I would now call on Colin Smyth to speak to the amendment 13876.4, in his name. Food and drink is an immensely important sector to our economy and to the people of Scotland. It contributes £5.5 billion to the economy each year, a figure that has doubled since 2007. It makes up almost a fifth of our total manufacturing turnover, turning over £14.4 billion a year. In Scotland, 18,850 food and drink businesses employ over 115,000 people. It is a sector that has seen incredible growth over the past decade and Labour fully supports the aim that is set out in the Government's ambition 2030 paper, which outlines a bold and ambitious vision to see turnover double to £30 billion by 2030. The food and drink industry is particularly important to rural communities such as the south of Scotland, which I have the privilege to represent. Let me give you a taste of what I mean. My own home region of Dumfries and Galloway is home to a thriving food and drink sector. Our farmers produce more than 40 per cent of Scotland's dairy and we can boast a range of fantastic artisan products from across the region. The importance and potential of the sector has resulted in the local Labour-led council announcing the development of a regional food and drink strategy that seeks to double the value of the region's industry to £2.5 billion by 2030. It is an ambitious target, but one that the region is more than capable of realising. Across Dumfries and Galloway, food and drink initiatives and businesses are creating new jobs, bolstering the local economy and attracting more and more tourists to the area than ever before. As a local council, I launched the Dumfries and Galloway food trail, which invites you to eat and drink your way around the natural lardar of the region to discover the artisan food and drink that is produced by some of the most passionate people in the business, such as Creamer Galloway near the food town of Castle Douglas, where David and Wilma Finlay are leading the way in ethical farming, proving that there is an alternative to the export of live calves and producing, I have to say, some of the most amazing ice cream and cheese along the way. I had the privilege recently as chair of Dumfries and Galloway's fair trade steering group of awarding fair trade flagship employer status helping to deliver fair trade status to the region. The trail takes you behind the scenes of food and drink producers, including Andyle Distillery, which, after three years, is now producing its first whisky, a product that I can personally vouch for. The region also boasts some of the busiest farmer markets, such as the new market at Dumfries railway station. We have some of the best food festivals and celebrations in the country, including the Stranraer Oyster festival, which begins tomorrow, celebrating not only Loch Rine's world-class oysters but the areas, culture and heritage. Without standing restaurants, cafes, guest houses and hotels, Dumfries and Galloway certainly is the place to do business with food and drink and is playing its part in Scotland's food and drink success story. However, we are not without our major challenges. As the cabinet secretary is acutely aware, in fish processing, the region is currently dealing with the economic tsunami being inflicted on the town of Anand by young seafood and their decision to close the pennies of Scotland factory, leading to the loss of 700 permanent and temporary jobs in a community with a working population of just five and a half thousand. An action plan is being developed in the proposals for economic renewal that must be backed by Scottish Government funding. The region's food and drink sector, along with the rest of Scotland, also faces the uncertainties of Brexit, which threaten their tariff-free access to markets as well as access to workers. The question of what we will replace is yet sure. We leave the extremely important matter of the future of the employees of pennies in the town of Anand. Mr Smith acknowledged that the South of Scotland Agency has stepped up to play by providing a proposed programme of assistance of, I believe, £250,000. The jobs fair and the one to be held in October have provided useful opportunities for former employees to find alternative employment. Of course, we are continuing to work very hard to see if other employers can be attracted to the area and take over some of the operations or create new operations for pennies. I just want to emphasise how important that is to the Scottish Government. I thank the cabinet secretary for that intervention. The £250,000 is important and requested by Dumfries and Galloway council, but that will develop an action plan. What will be crucial is the proposals for that action plan, which I believe could come to several million pounds being backed by the Government, because that is what will create the jobs in the area, not the plan itself. I come to the issue around the future and Brexit, as I touched on. What will replace the common agricultural and common fisheries policy post-Brexit still remains largely unanswered by both the UK and the Scottish Government. For a sector, I have to say that it relies very much on long-term planning. As has already been touched on, we face the threat to geographical indication status, which provides legal protection against imitation and is estimated to increase a product's value by 2.3 times. It is particularly important, as we have heard, to the Scottish whisky industry, our biggest food and drink export, an industry that is worth £4.36 billion a year and accounts for almost three quarters of those exports, highly in the need for a Brexit deal that retains that geographical indication status. The economic importance of our food and drink sector is therefore enormous, and so, therefore, is the potential impact of Brexit. The importance of the food and drink sector goes beyond its crucial economic importance. It impacts on our health, on our environment, and on our record and animal welfare. Access to food or rather a lack of adequate access for far too many people exposes the gross inequalities in Scotland today. A nation that provides so much outstanding food and drink is to our nation's shame that so many children in Scotland still go to bed hungry at night. Although our food and drink sector in Scotland has grown, so too has the scandal of food poverty. Just last week, the Food Foundation revealed that over 200,000 children in Scotland live in households that are unable to afford a healthy diet. It is absolutely right that we celebrate the successes of Scotland's food and drink, but we also need to rethink how we approach access to food in this country. That means recognising that access to food is a fundamental human right. It is deeply disappointing, therefore, that last week's programme for government did not give a commitment to introduce a dedicated comprehensive good food nation bill that puts tackling food poverty at its heart, despite previous pledges by the Government to do just that. It is a kick in the teeth, I have to say, for the many stakeholders who have worked with the Government on good food nations ambitions, who now believe that they have been betrayed. More importantly, it is a kick in the teeth for those 200,000 children who live in households that are unable to afford a healthy diet. Of course, I will give way again if I have time to do so. I am grateful that I will be brief, but would Mr Smith accept, in the spirit of good will, that I have reaffirmed our commitment to bring forward legislation underpinning Scotland as a good food nation, but that some of the action to tackle food poverty is dealt with by programmes more effectively and that, for example—this is one example—our fair food funding has been increased from £1.5 million to £3.5 million, and programmes such as that can start to make further progress in tackling what is absolutely a serious problem, as Mr Smith argues. Cabinet Secretary for that intervention, of course, a good food nation's bill is not the only solution to the problems that we face, but it is a necessary part of that solution. It has, or rather it had, unanimous cross-party support. Much of what should be in such a dedicated bill is already clear, and that is what the Government should be consulting on, not more process. A bold good food nation's bill was an opportunity for Scotland to lead the way in environmental sustainability, healthy eating, animal welfare and to work with our trade unions to drive up terms and conditions of our food and drink workforce, which too often can be some of Scotland's lowest paid workers. Crucially, a good food nation's bill is an opportunity to enshrine in law the right to food, paving the way for a duty on our public bodies, with clear targets for action, backed by an independent statutory body to ensure that action is delivered. We still have not had that commitment from the Government to do so. The Government must renew its commitment to a dedicated, bold good food nation's bill, which has tackling poverty and the right to food at its heart. I therefore move the amendment in my name, calling on the Government to do so. Thank you very much. I now call Mark Ruskell to speak to and move amendment 13876.3 in his name. Thank you, Presiding Officer. On any night of the week in this Parliament, there are events, receptions and cross-party groups that celebrate the success of Scottish Food and Drink. We are dripping with opportunities to celebrate that success, but it is time that we are faced up to the areas where we are failing. We are failing on animal welfare when we ship thousands of three-week-old carves each year on six-day journeys to the continent. We are failing nature when wild salmon stocks and farmland birds like the lapwing are in rapid decline with no firm plans to reverse those losses. We are failing to address the obesity epidemic with 65 per cent of adults and nearly a third of children either obese or overweight. We are failing on affordability, too, with the poorest households needing to spend nearly two thirds of their income on food if they are to meet even the most basic nutritional guidelines. It is time to see real action on those crises, turning problems into opportunities, and the Greens, alongside all the other opposition parties in this chamber, agreed that a bill, primary legislation, is the only way forward to achieve that. We all understand the threat Brexit poses to protected geographic indicators and the need for continued, if not improved protection after withdrawal. There is no disagreement there, but today we need to move the debate on, commit to what we can achieve through wider food policy and what our aims are for future powers that may come our way. I welcome the Scottish Government publishing late on Tuesday evening its Good Food Nation progress report. It at least gives us an insight into what it meant when it downgraded Good Food Nation from a bill into a programme just last week, but it fails to give us any real update on progress. It is merely a list of ideas and intentions along with a summary of existing schemes with a food theme. Many of those schemes, well-intentioned, were already in place when the SNP proposed a Good Food Nation bill ahead of the last holiday re-election. If the Government was content with that, why did it propose legislation in the first place? The progress report gives us very little data and makes no attempt to track progress against the indicators for a good food nation that were put together by the Food Commission back in 2015. That report is an attempt to say, trust us, we've got this in hand, or I'm sorry but I'm not convinced. That's why my amendment calls for targets to be required by legislation, because we can't report on progress if we don't know what we're trying to achieve and by when. I'm hoping that we can all agree on the areas of policy that should be covered by those targets, because the wording of my amendment is lifted directly from the Scottish Government's 2014 Good Food Nation paper, which stated, and I'll quote it, it's been around for some time, there's been a lot of good thinking on this. The Good Food Nation paper says, there's a consensus on the key concept areas, health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, local economic prosperity, resilient communities and fairness in the food chain. The other key benefit of legislation is that it places a clear responsibility on ministers to take forward those plans, because it is presiding off as a leadership and political will that has been sadly lacking on this in recent years. I feel at this point, we should give recognition to the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, the former Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead for his drive and vision in the original Good Food Nation policy, that 2014 document. He understood the challenges in tackling the wide-ranging nature of food policy, but was not afraid to take that on and brought together a coalition of political and civic society support. Since 2016, however, not only have we seen the issue of food drop from the Cabinet Secretary's title, but the vision of the Good Food Nation has been steadily eroded until we were left with largely just an industry marketing programme in last week's programme for government. Both the 2016 and the 2017 programmes for government promised a consultation on a bill—a bill, not an approach, a bill that never emerged. The Cabinet Secretary has had three reports provided to him by the Food Commission, and in December last year, a set of 10 recommendations for a Good Food Nation bill. He has not published his response to those recommendations, yet he felt comfortable with disbanding the Food Commission and relieving them of their duties at the start of the summer, a move that, of course, he failed to inform Parliament of. Government needs to consult on a bill now, not just an approach, as the minister has announced in this debate. So much excellent work to prepare the ground has been done, and not just by the Food Commission. The Scottish Food Coalition has brought the public and the food and farming sectors together to develop innovative ideas to feed into this bill. We are ready to go on this now. We have the ideas and the understanding. In June this year, at the final meeting of the Food Commission, the Cabinet Secretary apparently told the commission—this is in the minutes of the meeting—that a silo problem still existed across Scotland and that that made some legislative options difficult to achieve in a minority government. The amendments from all four opposition parties today show that we are more than on board with this cross-silo legislation. The sticking block is not parliamentary support, but political will from the cabinet secretary himself. He needs to get out of his economic silo, get moving and draft this bill, or make way for someone else who will. I move the amendment to my name. I now call on Mike Rumbles to speak to move amendment 13876.2. Mr Rumbles, please. Deputy Presiding Officer, I am very glad to be speaking in this debate designed by the Scottish Government to celebrate the success story, which is our food and drinks industry. There is indeed much to celebrate. Before I move on to my amendment, which I now move, I too want to mention our whisky industry. With more than 10,000 people directly employed by the industry and with the highest ever level of exports, the industry is thriving. There are about 30 new distilleratories being planned to add to the 128 already well-established. For the industry accounting for over 70 per cent of all Scottish food and drinks exports, it is good news all round. However, I want to focus in the time that I have on some of the threats that we face when we are trying to grow our food and drinks industry. The whisky industry, as I have mentioned, is all about quality. It is the main reason why the Scottish whisky industry accounts for over 70 per cent of all our food and drink exports. It is about quality, the perception and the reality of quality. I want to focus on my amendment. Scottish Farm Salmon also has a reputation for quality produce with consumers around the world. Part of our job is to ensure that it remains so and to provide for the proper regulation of the industry to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Members will be aware of the short inquiry by the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, which concluded that the status quo surrounding the regulation of our farm salmon industry was not acceptable. The Rural Economy Committee has also conducted its own inquiry. We are now working on our report. Obviously, I make no comment on the discussions around the draft report. It would be wrong to do so, but what I can comment on is my own view of the evidence presented in public session. It is clear that we all should want to see a thriving and effective salmon industry. There should not be two opposing sides—the farm salmon industry and those involved in our river fisheries. It is surely in everyone's interests that the environmental issues that are facing our fish farms are effectively addressed as soon as possible. If those problems are ignored by the regulators, there is a danger that consumer confidence will be adversely affected, and that would be absolutely tragic for all concerned, but especially for those employed in this growing and important industry. I have every confidence in our committee after taking evidence over so many weeks that it will come to a balanced and constructive view as to the way forward. Of course, we will have to wait for our report to be published in due course. Unfortunately, there is another issue that threatens to undermine the reputation of the quality of our food industry in Scotland. On Monday, BBC Scotland showed a documentary about the export for slaughter last year of over 5,000 young cattle that were only three or four weeks old, with some of them reaching slaughterhouses outside of the EU and with all that means. On 6 June, I said to the cabinet secretary in this chamber, as others did, that the concern was not about direct exports from Scotland but about Scottish animals ending up in Spain and North Africa for slaughter. In a moment, Fergus Ewing avoided answering my question, so I would be delighted to give way. I thank Mike Rumbles for giving way. I think that an important point to clarify is the fact that he talks about the BBC documentary, but would the member recognise that the calves that were shown there were not Scottish calves? That has been a point that the NFUS has raised, and I would like that to be recognised because that is not what was shown on that programme. Mike Rumbles. What I am talking about, and we raised this before the programme, was that the perception minister, not just facts, but public perception, is important here. Ministers must grasp the fact that the fact that the Scottish Government, I hope—I am disappointed by that intervention, I thought that they were responding now, but I thought that this is too little, too late, and I hope that the ministers are not rowing back from what they said to us in this chamber just the other day. I believe that if we find anything that threatens, in the minds of the great British public, the high quality and the very highest level of animal welfare standards of the Scottish Farm produce, then we have a duty to act and act swiftly. Do not quibble about the facts. The facts are important, but the point that I am making is that public perception is extremely important, and it is the job of ministers to make sure that nothing gets in the way of the quality produce that we produce. I am astonished at that intervention from a sedentary position from some senior members of this Parliament. Those two issues of farm salmon and the export for slaughter of three or four-week-old calves must be addressed now before consumer confidence is badly affected. That is the point that I am making. We have before us the Liberal Democrat amendment in my name focusing on the fact that the regulatory regime covering our fish farming industry is not fit for purpose. That is the direct responsibility of the minister. If our amendment is voted through today, the Scottish Government is duty bound to take action to reform the regulations in order to ensure that consumer confidence in our fish farming industry is second to none. The wellbeing of our fish farming industry requires action, and we require action now. Thank you very much. I now move to the open debate at speeches of five minutes, but there is time in hand for interventions. I call Alastair Allant. We follow by Edward Mountain. Mr Allant, please. As the cabinet secretary has outlined, Scotland's food and drink sector is one of Scotland's stand-out economic success stories. Food and drink is estimated to be worth around £14 billion each year to Scotland's economy, and it accounts for one in five manufacturing jobs. Around 115,000 people are employed in the sector in one of the 18,000 food and drink businesses in the country. I want to say something briefly today about what the food and drink industry means both nationally and particularly to rural constituencies like my own. Last year, the First Minister joined the Scotland Food and Drink partnership to launch Ambition 2030. The industry is objective to more than double turnover in the sector with the aim of reaching £30 billion by 2030. One way to unlock that £30 billion potential in the industry is by raising the attractiveness of the industry as a career and investing in the workforce. If I may risk singling out one initially of the dozen islands that I represent, the Isle of Harass is a case in point and has already been made reference to. The distillery there, established with Scottish Government assistance in Tarbert, has turned into a focus for Harass as an increasingly clear brand, already for gin, very soon for whisky, and taken together with the growth of tourism, the resurgence of Harass tweed, the presence now of a marina and other small businesses. It is no exaggeration to say that the distilling industry has helped to transform, at least in part, what remains, of course, one of the most fragile rural economies in Scotland. In Lewis 2, the Avengera Gwisgy there has had a success of its own in the Japanese market and elsewhere, proving what even the smallest of distilleries can do to create a name for the brand of whisky worldwide. Part of Ambition 2030 is also about the supply chain and about ensuring that farmers, fishermen, manufacturers and buyers work together in close partnership to ensure greater profitability is shared across the industry. Again, I inevitably think of Hebridean examples, but recent years I have seen the marac, the Stornoway black pudding, capitalised in some of this way, as has the prawn fishing and processing industry and, indeed, several successful smokeries. There are high-quality food and drink manufacturers in the outer Hebrides, which take advantage of the exceptional produce of the islands. That includes fresh and smoked seafood, meat, game, confectionary and jam. I will not continue indefinitely. It is suffice to say that producers are as varied as the Hebridean brewing company, Callan shellfish, Stag bakery, McDuff shellfish and Barat Atlantic shellfish. There is still more that could be done, however, to bring some of our excellent produce to a wider public knowledge. I think of the crofting communities here and particularly of Lewis Lam as an example. The food and drink sector in my constituency is growing and currently employs around 300 people. In 2012, it accounted for £18 million in GVA for our local economy in the islands. In many ways, the industry is closely related to the tourism sector in the outer Hebrides, which was worth approximately £53 million in 2013. However, two of the most recent successful small businesses in the islands both make another point in their own way. They are both food and drink related. I am going to name them without any favour having been sought from them. Hebb mustard and the Hebridean tea store. I mention them both because they are both run by EU citizens, a fact that brings me seamlessly to my concluding point. 40 per cent of Scotland's food and drink exports are destined for Europe, a fact that is not lost on Hebridean prawn fisherman, whose live exports of shellfish cannot afford to be delayed on international borders, but who has yet to have a little clearer explanation as to how such a scenario can, with certainty, be avoided. A number of Scottish products, including Stornoway Black Pudding and many other products that have been named in the chamber already, currently already have EU protected food name status, and that provides legal protection against imitation across the EU. As others have mentioned, it is estimated that, on average, the status increases of products valued by over twice. It is far from clear how outside the existing schemes measures could successfully be taken to prevent imitation products from entering the market. However, I look forward to hearing how that could be achieved. My constituency, as I am sure many others, provides lessons about why Scotland's food industry relies equally on Scotland the brand and on Europe the market as a Parliament that we owe it to the industry to protect both. I remind members that, as five-minute speeches, however, I can be slightly elastic with the five minutes, but not so elastic that elastic gets stretched too far if you follow me, Mr Mountain. I call Edward Mountain to be followed by Jenny Gilruth. I think that that was an indication to stretch it as far as I like, but thank you, Presiding Officer. Dangerous territory. That is you down to five minutes exactly now, Mr Mountain. I will keep you to it. First, I declare an interest that I am a partner in a farming business. Over the 2,000-mile summer surgery tour, I saw clear evidence of how the Highlands were contributing to being a world-renowned producer—Scotland being a world-renowned producer of high-quality food and drink—whether it was the award-winning beers of the Black Isle brewery or the award-winning Duned Bay distillers in Cathness, who lovingly hand-fill each bottle of rock rose gin. In the remotest corner of the Highlands, many companies have transformed their passion for food and drink and turned it into a prosperous business. I want to mention the spice room near Cape Wrath, which is one such small business that I visited in my summer tour. Mike and Lucy Goodwin have taken the love of regional Indian cuisine and now sell authentic, prepared meals and teach cookery courses. They were, to me, a perfect example of craft diversification, where the produce is grown and marketed locally in innovative ways. From those niche producers to the long-established manufacturers such as Walker's Shortbread, the food and drink sector is absolutely vital to the highland economy, creating some 32,000 jobs and generating over £1 billion for our regional economy. We cannot forget the biggest export success, Scottish export success, whisky. As the cabinet secretary pointed out, 2017 was a record-breaking year, with exports reaching a total of £4.36 billion, and the 39 bottles per second that were shipped overseas is truly inspirational. Visiting, as I did in summer, the Portney distillery in Wick and the Klein Leash distillery in Brawer, I saw for myself how distilleries are taking every opportunity to grow their customer base at home and abroad. With new names such as the Dora Beg distillery, the Brawer distillery and the Isle of Rasse distillery set to join old favourites, Scotch whisky is becoming more complex, nuanced and increasing their word appeal by becoming more local. What they might be low on this year, however, is high quality Scottish barley. It has been a very tough year for our farmers, and many of them are struggling to achieve the quality of demands of the distillers. It must be remembered always by the distillers that Scotch is called Scotch for a reason. I am sure that, like all members of this Parliament, we would like to see a situation where distillers source more local barley. Given the extreme dry summer, I also know that many farmers will go into this winter struggling to secure bedding and fodder for their livestock to produce the quality meats that Scotland is famous for. There is a genuine fear that much-needed feed will be in short supply, and this is perhaps an area where distilleries might be able to help. We might and we might be able to encourage them to consider whether it is right to burn the draft that they do that they produce in the distilleries in biomass plants when livestock farmers would welcome the opportunity to feed this rich sort of protein to their cattle. We should also be concerned, I believe, in the continuing decrease in the breeding livestock numbers that we have in Scotland. I have heard of many farmers who are reducing stock numbers not only due to a lack of forage but also due to poor farm gate prices, which do not reflect the costs of production. I entirely agree with everything that Mr Mountain has said. I did not think that I would find myself saying that, but I think that he has set the scene very well for the very serious problems that farmers face throughout many parts of Scotland over the summer. Does he agree with me that bringing forward the loan assistance scheme as quickly as we possibly can at least helps to provide some financial certainty to farmers and crofters facing those financial difficulties that are caused in the way that Mr Mountain has just described? Of course, cabinet secretary, I always welcome payments being brought forward. The fact that they have been brought forward a month from where they were five years ago is perhaps a welcome position, but they still need to be brought forward to November, where farmers expect them to be. As I begin to close, I would like to make an observation on the motions or the amendments that have been submitted. There is one particularly from Mike Rumbles regarding salmon farming, and I would like to make the observation that, as convener of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, I believe that it would be improper for me to vote on that amendment so that I can maintain the impartiality that I believe that the committee expects me to have as convener, so that I will be abstaining in that vote. However, I would like to say that if we are to grow our food and drink industry to £30 billion by 2030, we need a Scottish Government that matches the ambitions of our farmers and producers that I have mentioned. To reach that target, I believe that we need a good food nation bill—a good food nation bill that strengthens the positions of farmers and producers in the supply chain and ensures that local produce is favoured in public sector procurement. Therefore, I have always welcomed in the past the Scottish Government's intention to deliver the good food nation bill, but now I must really question the strength of their commitment to it. Let us not forget that, last year, the Government promised that it was working towards the bill. We waited and we waited, and yet it never came. That led to the head of nourished Scotland stating that any attempt to drop the good food nation bill would be a failure. Therefore, I call on the Government to think carefully about what it is doing and to bring forward the good food nation bill that all the people in Scotland heard them talk about and believe that they should be delivering. Thank you, Presiding Officer. My constituency of mid-fife and glinothus might not be one that you would automatically associate with Scottish food and drink fortnight. The main town, having been built to accommodate a coal pit in the 1940s, is still today synonymous with industry. However, glinothus itself was built on the site of rich farmland. Farms such as Caskyberrin and Collideen became the names for the new precincts when the town was being built almost exactly 70 years ago. In 2016, some two and a half thousand people in my constituency were employed in the food, drink and hospitality sector. Today's motion asks us to acknowledge the importance and value of the Scottish food and drink sector to the Scottish economy. I see that value and that future possibility in the communities that I represent every day. Scottish food and drink fortnight is therefore an appropriate opportunity to celebrate the success stories of the different constituencies that we all represent in here. In May this year, I was privileged to attend the Kingdom of Fife real ale festival in Glinothus. It was a fantastic showcase celebrating the ingenuity of local brewers from all over Fife. The Cool Brewing Company had their headquarters in a small residential garage in Glinothus, which did not stop them from scooping third price. Cool Brewing is part of a wider movement of micro brewing, which is happening all over the country. I spoke to the sales director, Robin Duncan-Dean, ahead of today's debate. She told me that the growth in the beer industry in Fife has been fantastic. We have had the opportunity to bring back Fife's rich brewing heritage and to make Fife a real centre for craft beer in Scotland. Scotland's food and drink fortnight is a vital platform to help to showcase the diverse talent and quality products of Fife businesses on a national stage. Micro brewing in action is a real science, and the attention to detail is vital in the production of a quality product. However, what I find so impressive about the Cool Brewing story was the spirit of enterprise, which allowed it to happen in the first place. It is a family business with a love of Fife at its heart, as can be seen by the distinctive swan logo used by the company. Cool reservoir from where the company takes its name was built in 1890 as a water supply to the Hague bottling plant in Markinch. The reservoir is well known for its fearless swans, and that is where the unique swan logo was taken from. Fife is also well known for its history when it comes to spirits. In fact, the earliest record of Scotch whisky was in 1494, with the direct commission from King James IV to father John Cawr at Lindore's Abbey. In more recent history, John Hague and company's decilery was established at Cameron bridge just outside Leven in 1824. Today, Hague's is owned by Diagell and makes Smyrnofocca, Gordon's Gin and Bell's whisky to name a few. Recently, I met with Ian Brown and his wife at the Bowhouse food festival along in St Monans. Both of Ian's grandparents were publicans in Fife, and his own father spent 20 years working with Diagell. His new company London Distilling caught my eye because of its connection to London links in my constituency. I visited the company premises in June this year to learn more about the distilling process, and it was absolutely fascinating to see in action. Ian uses gorse flowers from London links golf course to make this distinctive gorse gin, which celebrates the Fife coastline. The gin is made using 18 botanicals in total, using elderflower, chamomile, grapefruit, juniper and locally forage wild fife gorse from which the gin takes its name. Ian's background was in law for over 20 years, but ahead of today's debate, I'd asked Ian what brought him back to Fife. He said, Fife is where I grew up when it felt right to start a new business here. I love the contrast found in Fife within a stretch of only a few miles you can be transferred from once hard industrial mining towns to incredible arable land and picture perfect fishing villages. There are few places where the contrasts are so starkly stunning, and I think that this influences the people and the businesses within Fife. Celebrating the food and drink of our respective areas is important, particularly for constituencies such as my own, which suffer disproportionately from the impact of poverty. Along the road from the wild gorse stands Levenmouth academy, the second highest recipient of attainment funding last year from the Government. While we celebrate ingenuity, we should also be cognisant of a disconnecting opportunities when it comes to the food and drink sector. The food and drink sector undoubtedly creates job opportunities and employment and hospitality. Scotland needs a food and drink sector that can be accessed by everyone. We need the inventors of the future to create the new drinks, the new dishes and the new opportunities for the next generation. My constituent, Nicolaus Russell, has owned and personally managed Fife's Balburni house for over 25 years. The hotel is the 12-time winner of Scotland's wedding of the year, Scotland's 2016 national hotel of the year and has been defined in 2017 by the Hote grandeur global hotel awards as number one in Europe in four hospitality categories. Balburni house has always employed circa 20 per cent of the workforce from EU countries, as Nicolaus Russell told me ahead of today's debate. Scotland's hospitality sector is facing profound and concerning implications stemming from any form of Brexit. Today's motion makes specific mention of geographical indication status of Scottish produce, but I would urge all members to reflect on the people at the heart of our food and drink sector, the people who work in our hotels, the people who pick our fruit, the people we need to make our food and drink sector a success. Last week, I chaired an event held by Scotland's Futures Forum, our very own Scottish Parliament think tank, a debate on food and building a positive, healthy and sustainable food system in Scotland by 2030. Despite the varied background of the 60-plus people in the room, from primary producers, researchers to campaigners, retailers and of course consumers being all of us, there was an encouraging level of consensus on the way forward, most particularly on the need to join up the positive work that is already going on. There are some challenges highlighted, which we continue to avoid at our collective peril. Why are so many primary producers struggling when the food and drink industry is doing so well? As we have heard today, how do we fuse the environmental, social and economic imperatives of land use for true sustainable development, matching with the sustainable development goals of the UN? How does public procurement and planning decisions drive better access to locally sourced and sustainable food? How can we ensure that everyone in Scotland, in all our communities, has access to healthy and nutritious food? We deliberately did not talk about Brexit because, as I stressed as chair, whatever happens, we must address the challenges that we face and make the necessary changes to our food culture at all levels. We will also encourage to be proud of how we produce food in Scotland and, if we are not proud of what we do, to make changes. Why do we need a good food nation, Bill? Firstly, for producers, we proudly promote our Scottish produce for export and, just as importantly, for home consumption. If things go wrong, we must tighten regulations quickly and boldly to make a sector sustainable. I strongly support the Lib Dem amendment. The sea life scandal, for one, has gone on for too long. I had an amendment to the aquaculture bill five years ago, challenging the industry and demanding that real-time, farm-by-farm reporting became mandatory. The time to act was then. Now here we are with committee reports, one public, one pending. Let's be sure that the reputation of Scotland's farmed salmon isn't corrupted by the continued Scottish Government in action on sea lice or on other regulatory matters. Let's not risk the jobs in our coastal communities either, whether it be for farmed salmon workers or for people who work in the wild salmon tourism industry. I will very briefly, cabinet secretary. I mean, would Claudia Beamish accept that the industry and government are working together to tackle these admittedly very serious challenges that progress has been made, that the industry has spent, I believe, £70 million on that, that we have published a fish health framework where we are working in partnership in order to ensure that the future of our aquaculture industry in Scotland is based on a sustainable footing and tackles successfully the challenges of sea lice and amubic gill disease, as I believe that it's doing. Claudia Beamish. I'm afraid, Presiding Officer, that I just have to disagree with the cabinet secretary on this. Where we are is not good enough and it needs to be sorted. I'm happy to continue with that dialogue but I know that through the report, certainly of my committee, where it says that the status quo is not an option, the Scottish Government has been very tardy on this issue in my view. However, there is so much good practice already happening, so let's celebrate it. As I did in South Scotland this week when I visited Dam Delicious, a local family-run farm in Clydesdale. It has an on-site butchery, bakery and farm shop with a successful online presence, importantly. The livestock is free range and the grass is fed and they employ a team of five, some of whom have come through the apprenticeship route. The owner, Michael Shannon, has strong views on how Scottish producers should take every opportunity to champion our green credentials and the quality of Scottish produce, but we also discussed that it is not just about our global appeal. We need to connect better with those at home who have the opportunity and can, indeed, afford to think about where their food comes from and what its quality is. With the sorts of examples that we have heard about this afternoon, which are good practice, let us prioritise systematically and identify what is working and what are innovative practices, such as, for example, something that I have tried to champion in my small way, agroforestry, which reports our climate change targets while also having a useful way forward for smaller farmers. Then, together, we can share good practice and Scotland can shape a system of subsidies that will not go on rewarding some outdated practices but which facilitates the transition to agroecology, fusing both. I would also highlight that it is disappointing that it was not highlighted in the good food nation progress report to have any mention of organics at all. Perhaps, in his closing remarks, the cabinet secretary could comment on that. Most important of all, as stressed in Labour's amendment and in Colin Smith's speech today, the right to food is a fundamental human right. What we really need a food nation bill for is to address the terrible blight of food poverty in a respectful way, bring on the bill and perhaps the cabinet secretary can think again. I do not know what the precedent is but maybe we can still have one in this session of the Parliament for food justice above all. I call Gillian Martin to be followed by John Scott. Our food and drink sector and its reputation for quality is the envy of the world and its importance to our national economy cannot be overstated. It is estimated that more than 22,000 people are directly employed in food, drink and agricultural sector across Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen city and Moray, and the north-east accounts for half of Scotland's fish landings. I have only one fish processing factory in my constituency, McDuff Shellfish, in Mintlaw, but it has a considerable international reach. Go into any South Korean bar and you will find the most popular bar snacks or the cockles that are exclusively prepared by and shipped from Mintlaw. I love that fact. This year, to celebrate the 2018 year of young people, Tariff Show gave eight young business owners free exhibition stands with support from entrepreneurship social enterprise elevator. I met young people setting up businesses in baked goods production and drinks events planning. They are taking local ingredients and looking at innovative ways to reach new audiences. I have already said to elevator that they should consider making this a regular event at the show, way beyond the year of young people, because legacy is just as important as the year itself. Aberdeenshire is also fortunate to benefit from Opportunity North East, which aims to deliver business growth in the region. Its food, drink and agriculture arm has a business growth programme designed specifically for owners and managers of small food and drink businesses with growth potential, as well as future leaders from larger family-owned businesses. Of the 13 companies participating in the programme this year, two were from my constituency and both are distillers of gin. T. Smith Gin was created by Nick and Emma Smolley from Mudney Green and has already won awards at the prestigious international wine and spirit competition, while Blackford craft distillery is a family-runger enterprise that makes gin and vodka near Rothenormann. You can spend a pretty good day doing a gin tour of just my constituency, obviously, with a designated driver. Every month, it seems that a new ginnery is established, the latest delightfully just round the corner from my house in Newmaker with Elric Gin. My constituency of Aberdeenshire East is also home to Glenguiri, the most easterly whiskey distillery in Scotland, as well as one of the oldest. The distillery partnered with other food producers such as Barra Berries and Barra Bronzes from Old Meldrum, Mackies of Scotland and Mottie's Pork from the Atarvis, and they together have created the legends of geery tour. The tour takes visitors throughout the area, sampling some of the best that it has to offer before finishing at the award-winning Meldrum House hotel for dinner. I am keen to encourage the growth of food and drink tourism in the north-east, and I recently hosted a very well-attended Visit Scotland event at Fivy Castle to promote and encourage the development of agatourism and food and drink tourism. Many local food producers are also embracing innovation and environmental sustainability. 23-year-old Ellie Sinkler of the Veg Co near Ellen won third place in the inspirational food and drink awards, and she grows her award-winning tomatoes and chilies on the family farm using only renewable energy. For a somewhat bigger scale, Mackies of Scotland generate three quarters of the energy that they need for their production through wind turbines, and they also use solar panels, biomass boilers and have a 150-acre algorithm to soak up any carbon emissions. Mackies and Brew Dog are, of course, the huge international exporters from my constituency, and our household name is right across the globe. However, for many smaller companies, EU countries are their most important destinations, and the EU has offered the easiest and most efficient route into internationalisation, and I echo the comments that Alice Allen made about the importance of that for small producers. In that context, it is crucial that membership of the single market and customs union are retained. In evidence given to the Scottish Affairs Committee this week by representatives of agriculture groups, one thing was abundantly clear, and no-deal Brexit would be a nightmare scenario. WTO tariffs of 46 per cent—yes, I will. I know I'm afraid you're coming and you're in your last minute, so unfortunately not. Apologies to Mr Carson and I would have taken an intervention if I had more time. WTO tariffs of 46 per cent on lamb and 50 per cent on beef would render two of our most important agriculture products uncompetitive overnight. As well as concerns about tariffs and the events of a no-deal Brexit, there are worries about access to labour. Soft fruit producers and fish processors in the north-east rely on migrant labour from the EU to keep their businesses going. That is an issue that SNP members have been raising for over two years. Take McDuff Shellfish, which was already mentioned. He was only able to set up, due to eastern European countries gaining membership of the EU and many of the people moving into the area, because the previous fish factory had shut down due to the lack of ability of local labour. The north-east has so much food and drink to offer. We must protect the high standards, our market access, and we must shout loudly about the tourist experience that we can offer and the quality of goods that we can export. After all, we must resist the hard Brexit that has so much potential to damage it severely. I call John Scott, who followed by Stuart McMillan. I begin by declaring an interest as a food producer and farmer and pioneer of farmers markets. I can also welcome this debate today and salute Scotland's food and drink industry and congratulate them on their amazing achievement in growing this sector. Who would have believed that Scotland's food and drink partnership in the 11 years since its beginning would be celebrating an industry with a turnover of £14.4 billion per year? Who would have believed that our food and drink sector would be exporting £6 billion of goods when just over 20 years ago beef and lamb was almost unsailable because of the BSE crisis and with foot and mouth outbreak of 2001 still to be overcome? To say that this industry has moved on is an understatement, and it is the resilience and drive of those in our food and drink sector that has taken us to this position and all credit to them. There has recently been welcome news in the fruit and veg sector with the UK Government providing a pilot seasonal workers scheme to allow and encourage migrant workers to come here, although I think that we will need more than £2,500 but all credit to Kyrstyn here and others. Only yesterday the UK Government launched its own agricultural bill setting out its vision for the future of rural England, which has certainly proved to be a talking point. It is perhaps just as well that this is a resilient sector because a difficult future lies ahead for our industry here in Scotland. Firstly, will there be sufficient Scottish primary produce to satisfy the growing demand from our processors and retailers to sustain and grow the turnover of our food and drink industry because the barriers to maintaining and growing the supply of primary produce that sustains this industry will yet challenge the processors and retailers in a way not seen in recent times? Last winter's livestock losses caused by the blizzard, delivered by the beast from the east and livestock losses caused by prolonged wet weather and other factors, will significantly reduce the number of available stock going to market this autumn. The lack of silage and reasonably priced straw and distillers draft previously made byproducts of our industry will continue to ensure a growing cost base in our livestock sector. I welcome the cabinet secretary's understanding of the problem when raised by Edward Mountain. Factor in as well the proposed cuts to health fast payments and no commitment as yet from the Scottish Government to match existing funding, and the viability of most livestock units already in question will very soon be non-existent. That will most affect our tenanted sector, whether there will be many livestock farmers who will simply leave our industry this year or next, as the banks say no to further increases in overdraft lending. Another industry barrier to sustaining our food and drink sector is that there will not be a new entrance capital grant scheme next year, as this scheme has now been closed, cut short by 18 months in this year of young people, ironically, which certainly now has a hollow ring for our young farmers. With no replacement scheme in sight, the early closure of the scheme sends all the wrong messages to our young people who are keen to take this industry forward and whose enthusiasm was much on display at the Scottish Food and Drink reception last night. Yet another barrier to the sustainability of the industry is the lack of a good food nation bill in the programme for government that was announced last week, again sending dispiriting messages to our optimistic and can-do food and drinks industry. Donald Cameron has already spoken about that. A further unknown is what our own Scottish Government plans are for the shape of future support for our industry here in Scotland and what the implications are for food production in Scotland. We forget at our peril that the primary purpose of land use must be food production if we are to feed our people. What we do know is that climate change itself and climate change carbon targets will add additional costs to an already overbored industry, with industry indebtedness to banks at about £2.4 billion when, 20 years ago, that figure was just around £1 billion. We also know that our renowned farm fish industry may face an increased burden of regulation and therefore costs following parliamentary inquiries, and that all those farmers, crofters and fishermen in our remote and peripheral areas will need all their tenacity and resilience to hang on in there in the next few years. Certainly many rural business people when asked what their future objectives are at the moment replied, just to be in business at all in three years' time. Presiding Officer, today we note and congratulate our successful food and drink industry, but also regret, genuinely regret, the failure of the Scottish Government to give our industry the leadership and legislation that it so needs to take us forward. That is why I urge Parliament to support the Conservative amendment in decision time tonight. Thank you very much. It calls to everyone. We call back Claire Baker. I am delighted to be taking part in this debate this afternoon. As we know, food and drink is hugely important to our national economy. Also, the figure of a 44 per cent increase in turnover to more than £4 billion between 2007 and 2017 tells that success story. It also highlights the excellent work of the former cabinet secretary, Richard Lochhead MSP, in championing the sector to increase awareness of the opportunities of the sector, but also the quality of the produce. Last night's Scottish Food and Drink event here in the Parliament proved once again that the sector is successful, ambitious and focused on delivering even more delicious food and drink from Scotland's larder. I am going to focus my attention on the opening part of the Scottish Government motion. That is the part that the Parliament welcomes Scottish Food and Drink Fortnite and its campaign this year to encourage more people to buy, eat and promote Scottish food and drink and to champion the role that young people play in the sector's success. I am doing that deliberately. When colleagues think of Greenock and Inverclyde, they quite rightly will think of shipbuilding, marine tourism and the surning scenery. There are also some former industries, including heavy engineering, sugar and electronic manufacturing. However, today, there is another set of opportunities and offer, and that is food and drink. We have farming, including beef and lamb. We also have the Argyn Trout Fishery in Greenock, who also sell locally produced meat in its cafe. I visited the fishery during the summer recess, and I saw what the fishery meant to its customers, including the father and son who regularly travel there from Paisley. We also have not one but two confectionary factories in the constituency. We have the Golden Casca Group in Greenock, and they manufacture becanons toffees, millions, ferrics and chocolates. We also have another range of produce, but we also have the new chocolate company at the Kelburn Business Park in Port Glasgow, which I visited on Monday. Just to make everyone aware, we are not allowed props, but to each speaker in the debate, including Presiding Officers, we will have a chance to sample one of their produce later on as they are delivered to your offices. You may have another 30 seconds. I can give it to you now. They set up within the last 12 months, and they offer more than just the end product. They also include the adult chocolate making classes, and they provide bespoke products for customers. Brian and Joyce Dick employ two young people who have ambitions to grow the business and continue to engage with local schools. In the Kelburn Business Park, there is the startup drinks lab in the craft soda community. They were founded by Hannah Fisher and Craig Strachan. I visited this business a few months ago, and I saw another two young people with a passion for the industry and their choice, but also their business. This week, it was announced that the business park has another tenant. That is the nut-crafter cremory. It is a vegan cheese maker. It has moved in from Bridgel Ware to New Premises in Port Glasgow to grow their business. It is run by a couple who hail from the USA and also Italy. The Kelburn Business Park has been created by Riverside, Inverclyde. The head of the business investment operations, Andrew Bowman, is doing a wonderful job in helping to create desirable locations to help to grow our food and drink offer. The business park is a £5 million development that is part-funded by the Scottish Government, and it is now fully occupied, apart from one unit. Riverside and Inverclyde are also building a pioneering food and drink incubator unit that is also supported by the Scottish Government. Baker Street Food and Drink Enterprises will be in Greenock, and work has already started, and it will also help to create future food and drink opportunities. Then, we also have the multi-award-winning McCasky's Butchers and Weems Bay recently, who completed an £800,000 investment into expanding its plant. I was pleased to help by Nigel and his team to help to promote Scotch lamb during my visit there on Monday. Inverclyde will also join the whisky trail, soon when they are giving the stillaries built, which I mentioned to the cabinet secretary in an earlier debate a few months ago, and Gwyrrach continues to lead the way as Scotland's highest-performing town for independent traders, cafes, restaurants and bars. Inverclyde is open for business. Inverclyde is creating a food and drink offer that will have long-lasting positive economic and training opportunities. I encourage all members across the political divide to visit Inverclyde to see and taste what Inverclyde has to offer. I also encourage all members to go on to tasteinverclyde.co.uk to learn more about Inverclyde's growing food and drink sector. Thank you very much. You have done Inverclyde proud, Mr McMillan. I call on Claire Baker to follow by Emma Harper. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Let me start by welcoming Scottish Food and Drink Fortnite and the opportunity that it gives us to showcase Scotland's quality produce. It is a good opportunity to say thank you to all the food producers and manufacturers, the retailers and distributors, our farming and our fishing industry, who work hard all year round. We have seen significant growth in recent years. Our food and drink export market is strong and we are seeing a growth in innovation, providence and variety. In my own region, there are an increasing number of locally-owned businesses that are gathering recognition. We often worry about the future of our high streets, but local, accessible, attractive food and drink businesses can offer an injection to the economy of our high streets, which other businesses can benefit from. I live in Burnt Island, and I have seen a renaissance of the high street in recent years with a UK award-winning local butcher in Tom Quartz, a Scottish award-winning green grocers in Macaulay's, an independent seafood fishmongers in CMC Food and an independent ice cream parlor, which is in the Valleys. In other parts of the region, there are more independent cafes, offering choice to the dominance of the high street coffee shops. Retail is not an easy area to work in, but the passion and ambition that I can see in the food and drink sector locally is very welcome. We should think about incentive to support these businesses, where individuals are prepared to take a risk and invest in their communities. As part of Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight, I went to visit the Buffalo Farm in Fife. It was a pleasure to speak to the owner, Stephen Mitchell, who has worked hard to establish the business, who is now employing 35 full-time posts and has recently opened the Bothay coffee and bistro. This year, the fortnight has a focus on young people, and it was great to meet Adele Stevenson there, who started as an apprentice at the age of 19 and is a great example of an enthusiastic, bright and welcoming young person getting on in the food and drink industry. However, there is a skill shortage in some areas, and the food and drink manufacturers report to me the difficulty in recruiting good, reliable, skilled workforce. For some producers in the food and drink sector, Brexit will add an additional challenge to this issue. However, we need to do more to encourage people of all ages to see the sector as an attractive option. We need to encourage the sector to provide good, well-paid jobs with career opportunities and progression. We need to address any issues that is holding back growth. It is right that we celebrate the success story, but a good food nation is about more than sales and export figures. I have spoken about food poverty in this chamber many times, and it is a fact of living in our communities that is not going away. The UK Government's approach to benefits and austerity is driving this issue. It is about poverty. The lack of food is a consequence of that poverty, but we have attention in our food policy that we celebrate the production of high-quality produce that too many of our constituents are not able to buy. They are not able to participate in the food renaissance. The demand for assistance from food banks across my region is increasing, and we are getting near to challenge poverty week, and I am holding a round table in the region to discuss how we tackle holiday hunger for children who miss their school meals. Alongside those concerns of poverty and lack of food, we also have child and adult obesity figures that are increasing, and obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer. For too many people, that is the sharp reality of our good food nation. I remember talking about the launch of the good food nation as an ambition at the cross-party group in food in 2014. The good food nation ambition must be holistic, it must be inclusive of all areas of food policy. I have to say that policy development in this area has been frustrating. Each area of food policy still feels as though it sits in isolation. There is widespread disappointment that a good food nation bill was not announced in last week's programme for government, with nourish describing it as a missed opportunity. It is four years since the launch of the good food nation, it is two years since the Government announced its intention to bring forward a bill. It has received recently work from the Food Commission, but there is still little evidence that concerns about a lack of cohesion across government on food policy are being addressed. The lack of a strategic approach that recognises and deals with the tensions and different objectives that are across departments and responsibilities hampers us in addressing the issues of sustainability, diet, food poverty, production and access among others. The cabinet secretary today made no mention of a healthier future, Scotland's diet and healthy weight delivery plan that was published earlier this summer. Those debates about obesity and diet make no mention of the good food nation, and it just feels like there is no joint working going on. The Parliament has previously been bold in areas of public health. We may not have always agreed, but we have introduced legislation to tackle smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. When the First Minister announced a commitment to halve childhood obesity by 2030 in May, that sounded like an ambition that would be at the heart of a good food nation bill. A commitment to, and I quote from the progress report published this week, to publish a separate consultation this autumn on how best to create and deliver an appropriate statutory framework does not inspire confidence. Those are measly words, where there should have been a clear commitment to an ambitious food bill. A whole Government approach needs to be adopted. There needs to be clear goals and leadership. We need a radical bill that could transform Scotland's food culture and improve the health, the environment and the economy for Scotland's people. I urge the Government to get on with it. Thank you. I call Emma Harper to follow by Peter Chapman, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to be able to speak and welcome to today's debate during the Food and Drink Fortnite. Scotland's food and drink industry is vital to the rural economy, as the cabinet secretary has mentioned. I'm delighted to welcome the Scottish Government's ambitious plan to expand it further. Building a brand Scotland is key to achieving that aim. Many people are becoming increasingly aware of how important provenance sustainability and country of origin label are to the industry. That issue was raised with me by NFU leadership again this summer. In my south Scotland region, we have outstanding local produce such as gallowee beef and the award-winning cheese at the ethical dairy. Ethical dairy has gained much publicity this week due to their practice of keeping calves with their mothers, and this week, Marie Gougeon agreed to visit ethical dairy. I can also help, support and encourage other engagement with many of the other dairy farmers who wish to share their different on-farm practices. Additionally, I can speak about Loch Rai and Oysters from Strunrar, which I'm pleased to be celebrating, along with the Minister this weekend at the Strunrar Oyster Festival. Members might be surprised to learn that in Dumfries and Galloway, Garecher tea garden is growing and blending tea, and Professor Podd and Galloway chilies are both growing chilies and making jam, chutneys, marinades and salad mixes. Our award-winning dairy produce is wide-ranging, from amazing ice cream to specialist cheeses and yoghurt, and not to forget the world-famous Ayrshartatis. The food and drink producers from farm to fork in the south west are extremely talented and innovative people who make an invaluable contribution to the local economy. This includes station house, cookery school and carcubry, as he's trying to engage people in getting around the table and cooking their meals. All those businesses should be supported and celebrated. I regularly attend and buy local products at the Dumfries farmers market, which was recently awarded £5,000 from the Scottish Government's regional food fund. The SNP Government is to be credited for helping to make Scotland's food and drink industry what it is today. With the industry turnover increased by 44 per cent since 2007, it's great that exports have increased by 56 per cent, reaching over £6 billion last year. Our manufacturing growth rate for food and drink is twice that of the UK, and key to unlocking the £30 billion potential of the sector is supporting the workforce. Our fishermen, farmers, growers, pickers and all those working in our agriculture sector need to be supported. I spent the summer recess visiting farms, attending agricultural events and speaking to farmers at the front line. I found that the future of staffing on many of the dairy farms is a huge concern. We know that South West Scotland has 43 per cent. Of course I will take an intervention. Fergus Ewing promised a good food nation bill back in May 2017. The commitment to a good food nation bill was included in the 2017 programme for government. It was maintained in January, but this year's programme for government does not include a good food nation bill. Many of the amazing food producers in Galloway have mentioned that this is a missed opportunity. Do you agree that this SNP Government likes to create headlines about what it is going to do, but a year or two down the road it fails to deliver? I will give you a little bit extra time. That was a long intervention. Emma Harper Mr Carson, I cannot speak for the Government. I am not the Government and I would be happy to ensure that the Government has heard you. We can move on, thank you very much. I have issues with the seasonal workers in our country. The UK Government has a commitment to add 2,500 seasonal agricultural workers, but that does not address the full-time workers on our dairy farms. They are not seasonal, they live here and they are part of our rural community. That is why it is so important to have an immigration bill that is devolved to Scotland so that we can do what we have to do with our own growers, pickers and dairy farm workers. As we face the hard and worrying realities of the Tory Brexit, we must do everything possible to support our rural industries to become more sustainable and resilient. 69 per cent of Scotland's overseas food and exports go to the EU. I would like to touch on, briefly, Donald Cameron's statement about what Secretary of State David Mundell said at the committee last week. I sit in that committee and David Mundell said that he is determined to achieve support of PGI. The very day before, when George Hallenbury, the Trade Minister, was at committee, he said that there are several other products that we would like to protect that just do not have sufficient market penetration to warrant GI status in the market. The GI issue is not particularly straightforward. Those are not the same reassuring words of the Secretary of State. I would think that the UK Government needs to maybe actually talk to each other and decide what is the best way to support our PGI. Presiding Officer, I would like to conclude by saying that I echo the concerns of the industry over support post-Brexit. Therefore, I encourage the Scottish Government to continue to press for the best possible outcome for our farm to fork businesses. Peter Chapman, followed by Stuart Stevenson. I thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Before I begin, I must declare an interest as a partner in the farming business. Parliament has only been back after summer recess for two weeks, and already I have met with some of the key players in Scotland's food and drink success story. Last week, I attended a reception held by the Scotch whisky association. Scotch whisky has enjoyed record-breaking exports in 2017, growing in both volume and value to a total of £4.36 billion. Last night, I attended an event hosted by the Food and Drink Federation Scotland, discussing the diversity of careers available in this ever-growing sector. The food and drink sector now employs over 45,000 people, which equates to an astonishing 25 per cent of Scotland's manufacturing workforce. The target set out to grow our food and drink industry is worth the £30 billion by 2030 is ambitious, and it is wholly reliant on the production of the raw materials on which our iconic food brands are built. Those raw materials are, of course, produced by our farmers and fishermen. However, our farmers are rightly concerned that, up until now, they have not shared in this food and drink success story or seen any reduction in the continued pressure on their margins. The Scottish farming industry must grow and prosper along with the rest of the sector. The prize that Brexit offers is the opportunity to design our own support system better suited to our farmers' needs. We all know that the cap is flawed, and we can't do better. However, this opportunity has not been grasped by this Government, but rather Brexit is being used as a delaying and scared tactic. Let's be clear, I believe that the SNP wants Brexit to fail to further their own political agenda. I have to say that I absolutely object to Peter Chapman's statement there. When this Government at every single stage has done nothing but go out of its way to work with the UK Government at every level to try and work in the best interests of the people of Scotland and at every single turn we have been ignored. Peter Chapman. I completely and utterly reject that, that is not what we have seen at all from this side. They have done everything to build up grievance between this place and Westminster, all along the whole process. No, not at all. Let's be clear, I'll say it again, I believe that the SNP wants Brexit to fail to further their own political agenda. That was clear in June when, months behind schedule, they released another consultation with more questions than answers. Our farmers need a clearer outline of how the SNP Government will structure and develop its own agricultural rural policy. Yes, stability is needed in the short term, but where is the long-term vision for this industry? In the past two weeks, this Government has cut the new interest capital grants scheme with nothing to replace it. The cabinet secretary has warned that LFAS will be cut by 20 per cent in 2019 and 80 per cent in 2020, another scare tactic, as it is in his hands to decide what support Scottish farmers should receive. I call on the cabinet secretary to start making decisions and stop scaremongering. I remind Mr Chapman that I have said in the chamber and I repeat it now, and I have said it to local farmers and NFU members that we are absolutely committed to finding a way to avoid that reduction in LFAS from 80 per cent to 20 per cent. I welcome the cabinet secretary's words and I hope that he gets on and does exactly what he says and makes something happen. The announcement that farmers will receive 90 per cent of the basic payments in October is also helpful, as that will provide a much-needed cash injection to many under pressure due to the huge rise in feeding for their prices caused by the summer drought. So while I welcome this, it is no more than was done last year, so it in no way addresses the serious increased costs facing livestock farmers this winter. Our farmers deserve better, our farmers deserve more. For example, I wrote to Mr Ewing and asked him to support the NFUS proposal to request the delegation of the three-crop rule and the shortening of the EFA follow-up period from the European Commission. Those measures would have had a significant positive impact for our farmers' ability to plan ahead and to alleviate the extreme shortage of winter feed. Those delegations would have cost the Government nothing and yet no action has been taken and I have not even received a reply. Where do we go from here? The threadbare programme for government has not a mention of an agricultural bill showing complete disregard for our farmers. In the short time left, I need to speak about the important part, our fish sector adds to our food and drink industry. Many people are unaware of the fact that our biggest food export is not beef or sheep but farm salmon. We produce £177,000 of salmon and much of that is exported to 60 countries right across the world. Our fishermen work hard in often dangerous conditions to put food on our table. Two-thirds of the world's langoustines are sourced in Scottish water. I will come to a finish. I would just like to say at the end that the SFF and the NFUS have got behind the UK Government checkers plan. That is the only plan on the table. You must finish, please, Mr Chapman. You must finish now, please, Mr Chapman. Can I say to members that when I ask people to finish, there is a reason for that in the interests of the debate, and I would expect not to have two or three paragraphs after that request. I now call Stuart Stevenson to be followed by Angus MacDonald. I thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Interesting to talk about the checkers plan and demand the SNP get behind it. Well, I will be interested here when the Conservative Party gets behind it. The Conservative Party has at least six different views on the checkers plan, but I am not going to waste time on the Conservative Party's internal difficulties, which, at every turn, they try to reflect on to others who are trying to do the right thing for Scotland. Our food and drink fortnight is an excellent example of Scotland coming together, and mostly this debate has done so, to promote the great quality food that we produce in our country. I agree with Mr Chapman about the importance of salmon farming. It is by no means the only food and drink export that we have heard from others about it. Our vision as a good food nation is one that, in this year of young people, we should relate to the contribution of future generations in particular. James Withers, the chief executive at Scotland Food and Drink, said, that now is an exciting time to be involved in the sector in Scotland. The opportunity for the next generation to raise the bar even higher is hugely compelling. I absolutely agree with James Withers. On Tuesday this week, Austin Wilkins joined me as a new intern from the United States, and he told me that he participated at secondary school in an organisation known as the Future Farmers of America. That organisation seeks to educate people on where their food comes from and to value their food better. Apparently, when surveying a group, one person asked whether only brown cows can make chocolate milk. That is a classic example, humorous as it might seem to be, of the disconnect between people's understanding of food and the real importance of food. We have a huge number of people, perhaps just approaching 20,000 people in our food and drink business. We have 20,000 businesses employing well over 100,000, but Brexit, whatever its outcome, is currently overhanging our industry and its success. I only need to think of live langoustines—the premium product that comes from the north-east, largely—that go on the buggy towards the Bolognesau Mer market once a week. If they arrive at 8 o'clock in the morning, they get the price that they command by the quality that they are. If they are delayed even till 2 o'clock in the afternoon, they get half the price that they would have got at 8 o'clock in the morning. The real challenge is how long are they going to be waiting in the queues to get into France and to Bolognesau Mer? That is the real practical risks if we do not get Brexit right. Geographic indication status—it is very important to many of our great Scottish products. Scotch whisky, in particular, is one that has been well regarded around the world for well over a century. Since the 1915 Immature Spirits Act, which my cousin took through, was responsible for in Parliament, whisky has been kept in bond, and that has improved its quality. Previously, I referred to the desire of the American whisky industry to have us abandon that three-year storage and go down to one to level the playing field with them. There are challenges to whisky around the world. When I first went to Nepal many years ago and I walked down the Durbar Mark, the main street in Kathmandu, you could see in the windows something that should have looked like that 69 whisky, but it was not. It was cat 69 of the cake, carefully drawn, to obscure the fact that it was Nepalese whisky. We are copied all over the place. There is a huge second-hand market in Johnny Walker bottles in India. When I asked for whisky in Burma 40 years ago, it was purported to be Scotch whisky, but I had the faint flavour of paraffin. It had been made out of the back the night before. One of our great industries in my constituency that sounds as if it is a simple one is potatoes. Seed potatoes, in my constituency, are an eight-figure-a-year industry. It is one of many. Let us support them all. The last of the open debate speakers is Angus MacDonald. I say at the outset how pleased I am to be speaking in this debate as Scotland's food and drink is certainly worth celebrating. As we have heard from previous speakers, this afternoon Scotland has an incredibly successful food and drink sector worth billions to our economy and providing thousands of jobs across the country. From growers and producers to processing and end-product services, we have much to offer the world when it comes to food and drink. Indeed, I have not shared that previously with the chamber, as far as I can recall. However, my own family history has or had a part to play in Scotland's food and drink success story, having produced Stornoway Black pudding for over eight decades. Stornoway Black pudding got a wee mention yesterday during Rural Economy portfolio questions when Dave Stewart stated that its fondness of Stornoway Black pudding or Marek in Gaelic had not affected its waste line. Sadly, I cannot say the same. However, it is probably fair to say that I play my part in boosting our economy by buying and consuming Scotland's first-class products. Sadly, we wound down our wholesale and retail meat businesses in Stornoway in the mid-2000s, mainly due to competition from the supermarkets and the resultant changes in purchasing habits on the islands. However, I am glad to say that three Black pudding producers in Stornoway still valiantly manufacture the Mareks and seem to be going from strength to strength. Of course, all that is at risk if we fail to keep geographical indication status for Stornoway Black pudding and as well as 13 other Scottish products. UK ministers have, unfortunately, continually failed to give an assurance regarding PGI's and the protected food names scheme. Sadly, the lack of clarity that has been shown by the UK Government, coupled with the frequency in which the media is reporting apparent future trade deals being discussed, where PGI's are either an afterthought or not deemed to be important, is creating some real concerns from many stakeholders across Scotland. It is hoped that there is no truth in the rumour, although I suspect that it is correct that Scotland's produce with geographical indication status is seen as a bargaining chip by the UK Government. However, I guess that we will know fairly soon whether that is the case or not. Of course, closer to my home these days in Falkirk district, it would be remiss if we not to mention the successes that we have locally. From early beginnings with Robert Barre producing the first iron brew in the 1800s and disputedly the king of the lowland whisky from Rosebank distillery being produced as far back as 1819 to modern-day production at Malcolm Allyn's butchers and Mrs Tilly's Scottish Confectionary Falkirk district has much to offer and much to be proud of. Malcolm Allyn butchers, for example, produced 54 per cent of Scotland's lawn sausage, an average of 50 tonnes of sausage per week. Just as in the side over Christmas and New Year, they provided lawn sausage and steak pies to soldiers from the Royal Scots, Dragoon Guards stationed in Cyprus to help ensure that they had a reminder of home while on tour of duty. Having moved on from a couple of family butcher shops in Falkirk and Kirkntillach to now supplying most of Scotland's major supermarkets, it is clear that only the best produce from a lineage of quality service and family ethos has ensured Malcolm Allyn's limited success in becoming one of our most loved household names. However, if you are more of a sweet tooth than perhaps after your Malcolm Allyn steak pie, a wee bit of Mrs Tilly's tablet will cure the craving. We all know that tablets, especially those treats that are made by Scottish Government ministers, can send certain members of opposition parties into a sugar-induced frenzy. Before I continue, I say to all everything in moderation as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Mrs Tilly's originated in my friend and colleague Keith Brown's constituency in Tilly Cwtry, however, has expanded across the Forth Valley to Larbert. From early beginnings, it has become one of Scotland's success stories. With all of that success, however, comes the responsibility of creating the environment where our food and drink sector can develop, expand and continue down the path of sustainable success. Scotland clearly has a reputation for quality produce, ranging from our salmon and whisky industries right down to our meat and soft fruits. Brexit inevitably poses a threat to our industries, and the continued uncertainty is not good for anyone. That is why we should be taking steps to ensure that our industries are underpinned by the security of access to the single market and customs union, and I reiterate calls upon the UK Government to take steps that will secure Scotland's industries and provide the certainty that is so badly needed right now and for the future. Presiding Officer, there is clearly a lot more to say, but in closing I had hoped to touch on some good practice in Denmark as an example of where we should be looking to go. However, time is limited, so suffice to say that our food and drink sector success is to enter the high-quality produce and focus on sustainability that is known the world over. We can and should do everything in our power to ensure that this is protected from whatever threats are on the horizon and to ensure that the success is replicated and sustained for the future of the industry, the nation and our citizens. We now move to the closing speeches, disappointing to note that not everyone who contributed has returned to the chamber for the start of those. However, I call Mike Rumbles for six minutes, please. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I did not want this debate to be focused yet again on Brexit, although some contributors tried to do that. We all know the threats break that it poses, but I want to ensure that this debate is focused where it should be on supporting our quality food and drink industry and on what the Scottish Government needs to do now to ensure that we maintain this deserved reputation for both quality and the highest level of animal welfare. In my opening speech, I identified two areas where the Scottish Government needs to take action urgently. In particular, on ensuring that we have an effective regulatory system for our fish farming industry, which is clearly not currently fit for purpose. I appreciate the Government's support for the Liberal Democrat amendment, but this must be followed by action rather than just a vote—action to put the regulatory system right. Donald Cameron focused on Parliament's concerns on why the Good Food Nation bill was dropped from the programme for government. That is why all four opposition parties are united about not wanting to see it kicked into the long grass, and that is why we will support all the amendments before us today. Colin Smyth rightly uses time to focus on tackling food poverty and jobs in the industry, as did Claudia Beamish. Mark Ruskell would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Ruskell for working with me and others to get the Parliament to focus on what the Scottish Government can do to support our food and drinks industry and get the Scottish Government to actually take action to address the problems and produce legislation. He worked very well, and if it had not been for Mark Ruskell, he would not all be supporting all the amendments. I do not know whether my compliments to Mark Ruskell will help or hinder him in his group, but I notice that they are not here, so maybe they have not heard. In my opening contribution to the debate, I was astonished at Mari Gusion's intervention on me when I raised the issue of the export for slaughter of over 5,000 young calves last year, many of which ended up for slaughter outwith the EU in North Africa and with all that that entails. I could not quite believe that what she said was that the calves on the BBC programme were not Scottish. She did not comment on the fact that last year 5,000 were Scottish. When I said that the facts are important, but what is equally important is public perception, I was unbelievably barren by some MSPs from the SNP benches and one particular who is not in the chamber at the moment. I won't name him because I thought that it was rather poor. My goodness, this is the whole point of my amendment. The fact that we have quality produce raised to the very highest welfare standards must not only be true but be seen to be true. The facts and public perception, the public perception of the great British public is really important. If we don't understand that and if our government ministers don't understand that, then our food and drink industry could be compromised very quickly indeed. Across this whole chamber, we are all agreed surely on how important our food and drink industry is and it is a real success story. Every contributor to the debate has made that point. However, we are failing in our duty, though, if we only engage in back slapping about how well our industry is doing in our own particular constituencies or regions. Surely this is our opportunity also to highlight problems but solutions to problems that are facing us, and there are problems. If we don't address them as soon as they arise, we are doing nobody any favours. Deputy Presiding Officer, I repeat that we have a good story to tell about our Scottish food and drink industry. That can all be undone by failings on one or two areas. As soon as the problems appear, the Scottish Government must act quickly to put them right. I have identified one of those issues in my amendment this afternoon, and I would urge all members across the chamber to support it. We have effectively had two debates here this afternoon. One has been about celebrating the success of our artisan food producers across Scotland, and members have brought in many examples of that. Another debate is about the policy direction of the Scottish Government and perhaps the lack of progress that we have seen there. Members have taken us on a heady tour. We have been to gin distilleries, whisky distilleries and black pudding. We have had offers of toffee coming from the SNP-backed benches as well. I think that it is important that the Scottish food sector is inclusive. Jenny Gilruth raised the issue about the disconnection of opportunity, particularly of young people who want to find livelihoods working in the food sector, and Claire Baker highlighted the skills gap that exists and the opportunity again to bring young disadvantaged young people into the success story. I think that it is important that, when we are looking at the indicators for success of the Scottish food sector, it is not just about gross value added. It is not just about the size of the food sector. It is about what that food sector actually does. The Scottish Food Commission commissioned an interesting piece of work back in 2015. A lot of good work has been going on here, looking at what the indicators for success should be within our food sector. They pointed out that a good indicator would be the proportion of jobs paid the living wage in the food and drink sector. They also pointed out another indicator, the incidence of skills gaps in the food and drink sector. It is important, when we are looking at the success, that we define it not just in terms of how big it is, but also what it does and how inclusive it is as well. A number of members have focused rightly on the need for a piece of primary legislation, a good food nation bill. The cabinet secretary said that there is not an instruction manual for this kind of thing. I agree that there is not, but there has been some very good work done by bodies like the Scottish Food Commission and the Food Coalition, many of which have been set up with the support of Government ministers. We need to carry that through. Colin Smith talked about the scandal of 200,000 children going to bed hungry. Claire Baker again talked about the holiday hunger that many families in our communities face. That is why it is important that, with the good food nation bill, we have a right to food in that bill, that public bodies that are looking after vulnerable people ensure that that right to food is carried out and delivered. Whether that is through education programs around cooking, whether it is about the provision of high-quality school meals during term time or potentially during the holiday periods, it is important that the good food nation bill addresses those issues of social equality. I would like to turn briefly to the issue of protected geographic indicators. I think that it is welcome that the cabinet secretary has put pressure on multiple UK Government ministers to move on this. I welcome the fact that the Tory amendment commits to strengthening PGI and strengthening a replacement for PGI post-Brexit. I hope that those benches will now follow through on this, if it is passed tonight, through to lobbying, and through to lobbying the UK Trade Minister as well. If you get that passed tonight, there is a united voice from Parliament to embolden you to make that case that we need to ensure, as Alex McDonald said, that it does not become a bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations. One PGI standard that we have got has been a huge success story as Scotch beef. Perhaps I would say to the new minister that perhaps looking at that, taking some leadership on the issue of accreditation of Roseveil and how that might fit in with the Scotch beef label, might perhaps provide part of the solution that she is looking for in relation to dairy calves. It should not just be about shipping or shooting. We could actually have an ethical product. We could even be selling it in this Parliament as well. I would like to finish by turning to some thoughtful points made by Mike Rumbles and Claudia Beamish about the quality and sustainability of our food. I recognise the vital importance of the salmon farming industry to our highlands and islands, not just for this generation but for future generations to come. That is why we are all concerned about the deep-seated problems that the sector has right now, from animal welfare, disease, sea lice, which Claudia Beamish accurately predicted that we needed to be monitoring several years ago. We did not do that and now look where we are now. The culling of seals could lead to an export ban for Scotch salmon in the US and the impact on our wild salmon stocks. We all await with interest a much-bated breath the report that will come from the Wreck Committee, but it is important that this report does not just sit on the shelf. We know that SEPA is undertaking a sector review of salmon farming in the months to come. It could change the way that the sector is regulated to protect the environment. It is really important that the Parliament continues to get a grip on this issue. Although we have an iconic product in Scotch salmon, it is in trouble. Consumer confidence is in trouble. We need to address those issues. It is important now that we take the vision of a good food nation and make it a reality—economically successful, socially inclusive, environmentally responsible. Let's see a bill in the next year. Presiding Officer, that has been an interesting debate with a number of good points made across the chamber. Of course, there are many areas in which we can all agree not least on our world-class product, which is highlighted by many speakers, Emma Harper, Claire Baker, Jenny Gilruth and Stuart McMillan. However, there has also been disagreement and controversy, particularly due to the Government's backtracking on the good food nation bill. I heard what Fergus Ewing said, but I would have to say that the concept was put forward as a bill proposal as one of the many so-called radical announcements in last year's programme for government. Like Donald Cameron, Mark Ruskell, Mike Rumbles and others, I just don't understand what the delay is. In the spirit, however, of co-operation, let me say to the cabinet secretary that the bill that should come forward should address issues of sustainability, food poverty and healthy eating and should, in doing so, encourage links across portfolios in government. Specifically, as was mentioned by Colin Smyth, the bill should incorporate the right to food into Scots law. If it does not, then, certainly, Scottish Labour would bring forward an amendment to do so. We know that we have a right to food in international law, but without protection and our law it cannot be enforced and it cannot underpin policy and practice. Bits and pieces of legislation are not good enough. We need an overarching bill. As we have heard in the debate, the right to food is a right for everyone to be able to eat well and to have food in a food system that treats people, livestock and the planet fairly. That means that food should be available to everyone regardless of geographical or financial barriers that they may face. In other words, everyone should be able to have access to and be able to pay for food. Not only that, the food that is on offer should be nutritious, safe to eat and respectful of the many cultures that make up modern Scotland. Food production in Scotland should be sustainable, ethical and carried out using methods that protect and preserve our natural environment and resources so that we can produce food now and into the future. That will require a whole-system approach to supporting our farmers and food producers so that they can be part of that transformation. None of this is yet a reality in Scotland, so we absolutely need a right to food in Scottish law to create a legal framework that nourishes Scotland, respects, protects and fulfills food rights. We have also heard today about food poverty, and, like Clare Baker, I want to spend some time on the issue of food poverty. That is particularly important, given the figures that show that more than 200,000 children are now living in households that are unlikely to afford a healthy diet. We also know that one area of growth in our towns and cities is food banks. The Trussell Trash reported earlier this year a 17 per cent rise in the use of food banks in Scotland from the previous year, with low incomes, benefit changes and benefit delays being cited as significant factors for people who find themselves having to seek help to satisfy the fundamental human right and requirement of having enough food to eat. Despite the fact that the Trussell Trash described universal credit as being a significant factor, the Tories and Westminster still refuse to halt the roll-out, and in this Parliament the policy is supported by the Scottish Conservatives on the benches across the air. The number of people who are using food banks where universal credit has been rolled out rose by 52 per cent, and that includes thousands of hard work and families across Scotland. For the life of me, I cannot understand how the Scottish Conservatives can, in this Parliament, claim that they want to end food poverty when they will not call a halt for a major contributor of food poverty, the roll-out of universal credit. I say to them that if they generally want to address food poverty in Scotland, they must be clear that we need to halt the roll-out of universal credit. When they are at it, we also need to speak up against full failed Tory austerity, which is causing widespread food poverty in Scotland and across the United Kingdom. Undoubtedly, our food system has failed in many of our citizens. From those who experience food uncertainty, food poverty and work in the food industry with low wages and insecure working conditions to those struggling with a diet-related ill health and obesity, as well as a large number of food producers who are simply struggling to make a living. Also, as Claudia Beamish pointed out so passionately, food is a major contributor to climate change and to biodiversity loss and is driving global soil quality loss and antibiotic resistance. An overarching bill could change that by underpinning a fair, healthy and sustainable food system, and more specifically tackling food poverty. That is why Scottish Labour brought forward an amendment that I hope all members in this chamber can support. Surely no member in this chamber wants to vote against tackling food poverty. I urge support. I am delighted to speak in this debate tonight and to celebrate Scotland's food and drinks success story. Scotland showcases some of the world's finest food and drink, as we have heard, and it is one of the reasons visitors come to Scotland. It is not amazing that so many members have an inside knowledge of whisky and gin from their own regions and constituencies. I want to give some credit where credit is due, and in summing up, I will also set out why the Scottish Conservatives have misgivings about the Scottish Government's ambition. Please indulge me for a second. I would like to start by celebrating the success of the food producers in my constituency of Ettrick-Roxford and Berwickshire. Their tenacity and determination to put the best of the borders on the Scottish food map is second to none. There is no shortage of achievement in my constituency, and during the great taste awards, there were very successful jack-o-patsies of our mouth with their ice cream and their yoghurt, Katie Cloud Marshmallow's Jarvis pickle, for their cullan skink pie and Lapwyn Valley fruits for their gorgeous apple juice. Last night, we enjoyed the food and drink federation reception, which many members have mentioned, and that was hosted by John Scott. The Cabinet Secretary was also there to see and hear the breadth of talent, especially among the young people and their fantastic achievements through education and skills in the food and drink sector, and it is this point that I would like to pick up on later. We can definitely go further in promoting Scotland's unique food story, and we must seize the vast opportunities that tourism can bring in promoting our food and drink industry. The Scottish Conservatives welcome the aim of the Scottish Government to grow the food and drink sector by £1 billion by 2030 via the food tourism action plan. We have heard so many members this evening talk about the success and the outstanding success of exports up by £275 million to £5.5 million in 2016. That is an increase of 70 per cent since 2007. We can go on with the amazing figures. I do not need to repeat them, but they are outstanding. Going forward with Brexit, we have a unique chance to craft an export plan, which could take Scottish produce even further, and many members have lauded the success of the whisky and salmon industry on the world stage. However, there is so much untapped potential out there that could really thrive in a global market. With all our wonderfully locally grown and high-quality food, it is no wonder that people are a little bit disappointed at the Scottish National Party Government's decision to effectively ditch the good food nation bill. Many of the other parties have talked about that, too. We are just saddened that the Scottish National Party has decided to drop this from its 2018-19 programme for government. Fergus Ewing promised a good food nation bill back in May 2017. The commitment was included in that programme for government in 2017. The new programme for government mentions only proposals and actions. There was cross-party consensus, so why drop it? I find myself asking what kind of message does ditching this bill send out? What sort of message does it send out to families, to crofters, to farmers, to fishermen, to our valued food producers, to schools, to our planet? How can we begin to properly shape Scotland's food policy without robust and considered legislation? I will take an intervention. Fergus Ewing. I am very grateful that Rachael Hamilton is giving way. Can I reaffirm that we are committed, as I said at the outset, to bring forward legislation that will underpin Scotland as a good food nation? However, might I just correct Rachael Hamilton and previous speakers from the Conservatives that we did not say in the programme for government previously that we would introduce legislation? We said that we would consult the public on good food legislation, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Rachael Hamilton. I want to clarify from the official report that the cabinet secretary told the Parliament that decisions on the bill timetable will be taken in the context of the Government's overall legislative programme. I do not really know how that squares with the intervention that you have just said. I am being urged to declare an interest. I do in my own business, which I declare an interest in owning a local hotel. I do sell food and drink in that, so whether that is part of it, but I just want to make sure about that. Just to develop my point here about the good food bill, we could have seen public sector supply chains and food procurement involving Scottish producers set out in legislation, which I presume that the cabinet secretary is talking about with regard to consultation. We could have introduced legislation to improve children's health and healthy eating. That is now not going to come to fruition unless the Scottish National Party brings back that. Mark Russell has urged the cabinet secretary to do that to get out of his economic silo. Many members wish the cabinet to reconsider that as well. Food producers are acutely aware of their carbon footprint and their impact on the environment. We see numerous producers from whisky decideries to fruit and veg growers working with Mother Nature to enhance not only their product but also the environment and biodiversity. Take for example whisky. Pure clean water is crucial to the quality of finished product. The industry is carrying out some excellent work in working with SEPA to ensure pollution in watercourses is kept to a minimum. I am sure that this good work will not be ignored, but a good food bill could address regulation and some of the quality standards and issues that we have certainly talked about today in other sectors of the food industry. Moving on to geographical indicators, the Scottish Conservatives recognise the importance of this, and that is why we included it within our amendment. The Scottish brand is world renowned, and it is important that we ensure that the brand that we have is protected and any replacement scheme for GI must be at least an equivalent level of protection once the UK leaves the EU. I was quite interested by Colin Smyth's comment that it increases the value of products by at least 2.3 times. Excuse me, Ms Hamlin. I do not know whether my hearings particularly acute or voices are carrying more than usual today, but I am actually feeling that I am part of conversations and understanding them. It is that bad, so could I ask people to be a bit quieter? Thank you, Presiding Officer. It is like being a schoolteacher just before the bell goes. Intellectual property is of huge value to producers, and I urge the Scottish Government to work with the UK Government to support food producers. Many diverse subjects have been talked about this evening. John Scott welcomed the six-month trial scheme for seasonal workers to tackle the labour shortages that have been pertinent within the fruit industry and other food production units. However, I must add that, worryingly, the new entrance capital grant scheme closed to new applicants at the end of August, and new entrants who started farming in 2017 should have expected a scheme available for three years. That has now been cut short by 18 months. I wonder how we are meant to attract the next generation to pursue a career in agriculture to produce more food. If those opportunities are taken away from them, the cabinet secretary was happy last night to support young people at the food and drink federation event, but why is he now not announcing new support for the entrance scheme to encourage young women and men to get into farming? We must remember that it is the fishermen and the farmers at the end of the day who we must thank for producing the excellent raw ingredients upon which the Scottish success story is built. The good food nation bill could have enshrined the importance of food production in legislation, and, quite frankly, it is the kick in the teeth for them. We simply cannot rest on our laurels—farmers, fishermen, food producers, their hard work cannot be taken for granted. It is time that the Scottish National Party Government realised that and really pulled out the stops to support the industry to ensure that we can take Scottish food and drink to the next level. A good food nation bill would have done that. I now call Marie Gouchon to close the debate. We have ended up with a couple of moments extra, so 12 minutes should take us up to decision time. I am sure that there is a little space for interventions. I will certainly see what I can do. Before I get started, there is one point that I want to address at the outset of my contribution. That is the points that Mike Rumbles raised in his contribution, both in summing up and in his opening statement. Contrary to what he might think or believe, I believe that facts are important. I do think that we cannot have a situation in which completely misleading statements and footage are made and displayed and allow that to continue without trying to clarify or give the truth of the situation. I took a number of questions about that in the chamber on Tuesday. That is something that I care deeply about and it is something that I actively am trying to do something about because this is a situation, as I said then, and I will repeat again now, that no one is happy with. I am coming back to the issue of calves being transported out with the EU to third countries. In that documentary that, as I said to Mike Rumbles earlier, we did not see any Scottish calves in that footage. I am not saying that that makes it okay, but what I am saying is that we specifically said to the BBC, if you have any footage or evidence of that taking place, give it to us. I would say that around the chamber today, if you have any footage or evidence, give that to us. I would give way to the member. Mike Rumbles. I thank the minister for taking the intervention. We must not get confused about that. I said that the facts are important, but as important as the facts is public perception. Also, on the BBC programme, it made it clear that they were not from Scotland that they introduced. They said that in the programme that does not take away from the fact that 5,000 were exported last year, and I would like to know what the minister is actually doing about it. I feel like Mike Rumbles is conflating a few issues there, because, yes, 5,000 calves were exported, but from the statements that you make, you are making it sound like 5,000 calves were exported out with the EU to those third countries. The comments that Mike Rumbles has made is the way that he is making that come across. He talks about public perception being important, and that is exactly what I am trying to clarify and get right. When I said that I am actively trying to work to do something about it, that is what I am genuinely trying to do. I said that I would engage with the dairy industry. Again, it is a situation that nobody is happy with, and we want to try to tackle it. Mark Ruskell raised a very good point in his closing there about Rosie Ville. I understand where he is coming from. I accept that, and I will work. I will meet any member in the chamber who wants to discuss it with me and who wants to seriously discuss the issue and try to find a way forward. Colin Smyth Will Mary Gagiondo accept that, as long as we have live animal exports for fattening and for slaughter, the Government cannot guarantee that calves will not be exported from Scotland and could ultimately land in countries whose processes are far inferior to our own. It cannot guarantee that that will not happen as long as we allow the export of live animals to continue for slaughter and for fattening. Mary Gagiondo To answer Colin Smyth, that is exactly why we are undertaking the research that we are currently undertaking, to make sure that that is not happening. That is not what we believe is happening, and again, if there is evidence of that, please give it to me. I want to see it. I put that call out there, so give it to me so that we can act on it and do something about it. Coming back to what Mark Ruskell said about this being of a tale of two debates today, I could not agree more with that either. I think that I will probably go between the two as I progress with my speech this afternoon. I want to start with the fact that it is good to have the opportunity to take part in this debate today and to bring it to a close in my new capacity as Minister for Rural Affairs, because if there is one thing that I am learning in this role, it is that it is certainly not without its challenges. However, there are areas of this, such as food and drink, where, yes, again there are challenges, which I will come on to later, but there is also a great deal of opportunity and excitement, because who can't get excited and passionate when it comes to Scotland's food and drink? Now is the time that we celebrate that and enjoy it as part of food and drink fortnight, which runs until the end of this week. As part of that, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of people, businesses and organisations to see the innovation that is happening and to see for myself what action the Government and partnership with others are taking to support the vital sector. That is not just in terms of pure production but also wider learning, training and career development. Last week, I met Bob and Jane Prentis at Downfield Farm in Fife to launch the venison strategy. That is the culmination of work from those who are involved in the industry and what was the first time that all key representatives from across the whole supply chain covering wild and farm deer worked together to develop a plan that would see the growth of that sector. That strategy aims to improve and establish new supply chains, build and strengthen skills and look at how to support new entrants to deer farming among many others. Venison is a growing sector for us here in Scotland and we have a real opportunity here to further build and develop it. Last week, we have heard a lot about this event tonight, the Scottish Whisky Association. I spoke at that event celebrating their success and in particular to celebrate the fact that there are now 128 distilleries across Scotland. That ranges from the old distilleries to the new to the truly historic. Lindor's Abbey, for example, which Jenny Gilruth talked about in her contribution today. That was where the first distilling is said to have taken place. Now, 500 years on, we have seen the rebirth of whisky production there through the vision of the Mackenzie Smiths. Whisky is just one of Scotland's great success stories. That is evident when you look at the exports that we saw from last year, worth £4.37 billion and up 55 per cent from 2007. On Monday this week, I visited 4th Valley College in Stirling, where, with the Charity Springboard, they were undertaking work with secondary schools across the region. That work was focused around hospitality, food and tourism. It aimed to show young people the wide variety of careers and opportunities that are available right across the sector by giving them small tasters of each. That was also something that I was able to take part in. We had a session from Historic Environment Scotland. Then we had a session with a team from Andy Murray's Cromlicks hotel, making mocktails. For everyone's information, I make a cracking Shirley Temple, as well as sessions with the chef where we competed in an omelit challenge. That is where I was also devastated to learn that I make an omelit more slowly than both Jamie Hepburn and Fiona Hyslop, but all I can say about that is that their omelits must have been completely inedible in the time that it took them. It was just fantastic across those three sessions. It was really just fantastic to see the enthusiasm not just from the young people themselves but from the people who were delivering those sessions and who really brought those jobs and careers to life. If we want to grow and develop our food and drink sector and fully realise all the opportunities that we hope to achieve on our way to becoming a good food nation, having the skills and enthusiasm to help to deliver all that is a vital component of it. Would the minister recognise the great disappointment that many of the companies and the food sector in general have that the good food nation bill is not included in this year's programme for government? I would say that we have plans to legislate in certain areas. It is not just about legislation because there are a number of actions that we cannot take forward without the legislation to do it. We had that point emphasised from James Withers of Scotland's Food and Drink Today. Finally, this Saturday, I will be visiting the Stranrar oyster festival to celebrate and enjoy that fantastic product. The oyster festival was highlighted by Colin Smith and Emma Harper in their contributions this afternoon. The talent, enthusiasm and dedication from all those involved across our food and drink sector right across the country is very clear for everyone to see. It is something that we have heard about right across the chamber this afternoon from individual MSPs' constituencies. Colin Smith talked about the cream of Galloway and Dumfrieseng Galloway having 40 per cent of Scotland's dairy. The special South Korean bar snacks that we heard about from Gillian Martin in her constituency. The micro brewing in Fife, mentioned by Jenny Gilruth, the award-winning butchers and grocers in Burn Island that we heard about from Claire Baker. Stuart McMillan talked about the trout fishery in his constituency, the vegan cheesemaker and about the little treats that he has left for everyone in their offices today. Emma Harper mentioned in addition to Dumfrieseng Galloway's dairy products, the Galloway chilies, which is also something that I look forward to trying. I do not think that I can talk about this without mentioning Stornoway black pudding, raised by Alistair Allen, a product that fuelled Jenny Gilruth and I on our run around the Stornoway half marathon and one that Angus MacDonald knows how to make, so all good knowledge. There is no way that I could talk about all of this today without talking about my own constituency and the amazing work that is happening there. We have talked about the food tourism strategy today. Breakin has that perfectly encapsulated. From Breakin you can catch the slow train that is slow with an E at the Caledonian railway, a steam train that takes you to Dun and where along the way you can sample gin, bothy, gins. Lawrence Kirk is home to Alison Stuart's cakes by Alibaba, winner of the best baked goods in Scotland earlier this year at the 2018 Scotland's business awards. In Montrose we have the restaurant El Tajín, established by Mexican chef Martha Doyle and her family. They use the best of local produce to inspire their Mexican menu, and they really do utilise all the very best that the area has to offer, from the smokies in our broth, the geese from Inver Bervie and goats from Inver Keillar, to make truly original creations such as goat tacos. So I would encourage anybody if they are in the area to take the time to visit. As I said, it is hard not to be passionate about this sector as a whole, but at the same time we have to be aware of the challenges. Amongst one of those is Brexit, one that Mike Rumbles was hoping we didn't think we needed to talk about and one that Peter Chapman says he sees as an opportunity, one that I would very much beg to differ with. Now, I realise that these are not the only challenges that we face because others were articulated by members across the chamber today. Claudia Beamish talked about access to healthy food, local food and our food culture. Edward Mountain and John Scott talked about livestock and the challenges facing farmers. There is health and food poverty, which a number of members raised. Claire Baker and Colin Smyth raised concern about food poverty, as did Mark Ruskell, as well as health, and concerned that we would not link that with the food strategy. Now, that is intrinsic to the work towards a good food nation, and that is what I want to highlight today. It is discussed in the progress report that was published this week, and it is something that is going to be integral as part of this work as we move forward. Now, the fact that we are accepting the vast majority of the amendments in the chamber today, I really hope to show members that we recognise the concerns that have been raised across the chamber, and that we want to work together to do something about it. Donald Cameron and Mark Ruskell raised concern about the political will here, and I assure those members and other members right across the chamber that the political will is there. Food poverty, health, food production, access to local food, education, access to the food and drink sector, job opportunities, valued jobs in the sector, skills, top quality produce, available here in Scotland and our local communities, and abroad. All vitally important, interlinked in exactly what we want to tackle and address on our way to becoming a good food nation. I am committed to this, the Scottish Government is committed to this, and I hope that we can see some consensus and co-operation across the chamber to make that happen. Thank you very much, and that concludes our debate on celebrating Scotland's food and drink success story, and we will turn straight away to decision time. The first question is that amendment 13876.1, in the name of Donald Cameron, which seeks to amend motion 13876, in the name of Fergus Ewing, on celebrating Scotland's food and drink success story, be agreed. Are we all agreed? We are not agreed. We will move to division. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on amendment number 13876.1, in the name of Donald Cameron, is yes, 62, no, 58. There were no abstentions. The amendment is therefore agreed. The next question is that amendment 13876.4, in the name of Colin Smyth, which seeks to amend the motion in the name of Fergus Ewing, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed. The next question is that amendment 13876.3, in the name of Mark Ruskell, which seeks to amend the motion in the name of Fergus Ewing, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed. The next question is that amendment 13876.2, in the name of Mike Rumbles, which seeks to amend the motion in the name of Fergus Ewing, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are not agreed. We are not agreed. We will move to division. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on amendment number 13876.2, in the name of Mike Rumbles, is yes, 117, no, zero, and there were two abstentions. The amendment is therefore agreed. The final question is that motion 13876, in the name of Fergus Ewing, as amended, on celebrating Scotland's food and drink success story, be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are not agreed. We will move to division. Members may cast their votes now. The result of the vote on motion 13876, in the name of Fergus Ewing, as amended, is yes, 62, no, zero, and there were 58 abstentions. The motion, as amended, is therefore agreed. That concludes decision time. I close this meeting.