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“We are mandated by constitution to give govt opinion”
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Monday, 22 April, 2024, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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 For four-and-a-half decades, the Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (FIAB) has represented the Spanish food and beverage industry with almost half a million workers and nearly 30,000 companies.
Its objective is to defend the interests of the sector before the administration and the different national and international decision-making bodies, as well as to anticipate future challenges that affect the development of its activity.
Made up of almost 50 associations, FIAB promotes and supports competitiveness, internationalisation, innovation, sustainability, employment and talent within the sector. Mauricio García de Quevedo,
general director, FIAB, in a conversation with Manjushree Naik, at the recently-concluded Alimentaria show in Barcelona, delves deeper into what the federation is about and its future challenges. Excerpts:
In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, FIAB has a Strategic Framework whose objective is to contribute to the improvement and development of the entire Spanish economy with the year 2025 as the horizon. Elaborate.
Yes, we have a very good collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. This collaboration is mainly done focusing on these three areas:
- To help companies to export and open to new market where even embassy helps to get knowledge of new market.
- To financing and improving companies in sense of sustainability, innovation and competitiveness. This brings companies to much more in competitive environment in the world market.
- The third aspect is to help companies do campaigns all over the world. With use of food from Spain and even chefs are used to showcase the Spanish products and services.
FIAB is a member of CEOE and FoodDrinkEurope. Give us more details.
Yes, we too are member and we are lobbying for food and drink industry in Spain. There is also a regulation that is not coming for specifically food and drink industry but affecting all the companies. So we make sure that our interest is also covered. Same applies for Food Drink Europe. Spain being an European country, we need their help.
FIAB works in areas such as internationalisation, R&D&I, food legislation and safety, agricultural policy, environment, nutrition, training, taxation and communication. Give us more details.
We do have a department which covers internationalisation, food legislation. What we do is we have FIAB divided in different areas - food safety and nutrition, which focuses on regulation to do with nutrition, ingredients and food policy. Then there is another area which is focussed on competitiveness and sustainability.
FIAB maintains a firm and non-negotiable commitment to food safety. Does it collaborate with the food safety authorities in this regard?
We collaborate with food safety authorities a lot. We are point of first contact if there is any food safety issue and they call us to make sure it is out of the market and have safe food in Spanish market.
FIAB is made up of almost 50 associations. How does this help the sector?
It helps a lot. Now we have two levels. The level one is the sector is very focussed on its specialities, and what affects them. The second one is whatever happens to association, we are there for it. Thus, we do not miss any areas of food interest.
FIAB represents the Spanish food and beverage industry, the country's leading industrial sector with almost half a million workers and nearly 30,000 companies. Elaborate.
We are more than 20 per cent of industry of Spain. We are leading industrial sector with almost half a million workers and 30,000 companies. We export for 47,000 million Euros and we are fourth most export economy in European Union.
FIAB's objective is to defend the interests of the sector before the Administration and the different national and international decision-making bodies. How is this made possible?
It is possible because of our constitution and the way we operate as a country also helps. The government has obligation to hear the private sector. So we are mandated by the constitution to give the government opinion, so that they make a regulation which affects the industry. For example, environmental regulation we need to go together, to make sure we achieve our goal to attain sustainability but also not affect the competiveness of the company.
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