Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (Netherlands)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Voedselkwaliteit; LNV) was formerly the ministry of agriculture of the Netherlands. On 14 October 2010, when the Rutte cabinet took office, the department was merged with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs to form the new Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.

The Ministry was responsible for four fields of policy:

The Ministry was headed by one Minister. Its main office was located in the centre of The Hague. The Ministry was divided into ten policy departments, which was headed by a governing council. The policy departments were responsible for: Industry and Trade, International Affairs, Juridical Affairs, Knowledge, Agriculture, Nature, Rural Affairs, Regional Affairs, Fishery and Food Quality and Animal Health.

It had several semi-independent services:

The Ministry was established as a separate ministry, called "Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries", in 1935. Agriculture and fisheries policy had previously been integrated into the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and later into the Ministry of Water, Trade and Industry.

After the Second World War the Ministry became responsible for the rationing of food and the reconstruction of the agricultural sector. As such it became much more important. Between 1946 and 1982 the ministry was a "client"-oriented ministry, oriented at the development of the agriculture sector in accordance to the European Common Agriculture Policy. In 1982 the ministry also became responsible for natural conservation and open air recreation, which used to be part of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Social Work. As such it became more focused on sustainable development of the agricultural sector.

In 2003 the Food and Goods Authority became part of the ministry, which was renamed Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

...
Wikipedia