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The Ministry of Agriculture (Swedish: Jordbruksdepartementet) is a ministry within the government of Sweden. Areas of responsibility includes agriculture and environmental issues relating to agriculture, fishery, consumer affairs, reindeer husbandry, Sami affairs, horticulture, animal welfare, foodstuffs, hunting and game management as well as higher education and research in the field of agricultural sciences.
The ministry is located at Fredsgatan 8 in central Stockholm, close to the Prime Minister's Office.
Organization
The ministry employs about 150 people. The head of the ministry is the Minister for Agriculture, currently Eskil Erlandsson (c).
The ministry is divided into four specialist divisions:
- The Agriculture Division
- The Consumer Policy Division
- The Food and Animal Division
- The Natural Resources and Sami Affairs Division
There are also four administrative sections:
- The Secretariat for EU Coordination and International Affairs
- The Legal Secretariat
- The Secretariat for Administration and Development
- Information Section
Government agencies
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries is principal for the following government agencies:
- Swedish National Board of Agriculture, or Jordbruksverket. (Official site) Field of operations: agriculture, horticulture and reindeer husbandry.
- Swedish National Food Administration, or Livsmedelsverket. (Official site) Field of operations: Ensure quality of food is maintained.
- Swedish National Board of Fisheries, or Fiskeriverket. (Official site) Field of operations: fishery.
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, or Sveriges Lantbruksuniveristet. (Official site) Field of operations: universities, research.
- Swedish National Veterinary Institute, or Statens Veterinärmedicinska Anstalt (SVA). (Official site) Field of operations: diagnoisis and combating contagious animal diseases - research and prevention.
- Swedish Institute for Food and Agricultural Economics, or Livsmedelekonomiska institutet (SLI). (Official site) Field of operations: qualified socio-economic analyses within the areas of agriculture and foodstuffs.
- Swedish Animal Welfare Agency, or Djurskyddsmyndigheten. (Official site) Field of operations: main responsibility for animal welfare regulations, the assessment of animal research, and the allocation of research assistance to alternative research methods. The agency will be shut down in 2007, and its responsibilities referred to the Swedish National Board of Agriculture.
- Swedish Veterinary Disciplinary Board, or Veterinära ansvarsnämnden. (Official site) Field of operations: examines matters concerning disciplinary responsibility for veterinary surgeons and also the revoking of veterinary licences.
- Sami Parliament, or Sametinget. (Official site) Field of operations: The Sami Parliament is both a government agency and an elected parliament whose purpose is to promote the Sami culture.
- Sami Foundation Board, or Styrelsen för samefonden. Field of operations: the board's funds are to be used to promote reindeer husbandry, Sami culture and Sami organisations.
- Swedish Consumer Agency, or Konsumentverket. (Official site) Field of operations: works with consumer issues in such fields as advertising, contract terms, consumer information, household finances and the safety, quality and environmental impact of goods.
- Swedish Market Court, or Marknadsdomstolen. (Official site) Field of operations: special court, whose responsibilities include processing of cases and other legal issues under the Marketing Practices Act and the Competition Act.
- Swedish National Board for Consumer Complaints, or Allmänna reklamationsnämnden. (Official site) Field of operations: acts as a court, the primary task of which is the impartial examination of disuptes between consumers and companies.
- Swedish Board of Supervision of Estate Agents, or Fastighetsmäklarnämnden. (Official site) Field of operations: registration and supervision of estate agents.
- Swedish Travel Guarantees Board, or Resegarantinämnden. Field of operations: responsible for decisions on the size of compensation to which travellers are entitled when package tours have been cancelled or broken off.
- SIS Ecolabelling, or Miljömärkningen Svanen. (Official site) Field of operations: commissioned by the Government to be responsible for Nordic and European environmental labelling, the Nordic Swan and the Eco-flower.
External links
Coordinates: 59°19'43.97?N 18°03'55.54?E? / ?59.3288806, 18.0654278
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