Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality

The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (; LNV) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for Agricultural policy, Food policy, Food safety, Fisheries, Forestry, Natural conservation and Animal welfare. The Ministry was created in 1935 and in 2010 the department was merged with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and was named the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. In 2017 the Ministry was reinstated. The Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality () is the head of the Ministry and a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The current Minister is Carola Schouten who also serves as Third Deputy Prime Minister.
Responsibilities.
The Ministry was responsible for four fields of policy:
History.
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 Agricultural 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.
Organisation.
The Ministry has currently one Government agency and one Directorate: