Mission
To stimulate, promote and develop Britain's potato industry

Vision
An industry that is open-minded, innovative and actively working together for common goals

Specific goals
Engage in activities that will help the industry to be competitive and increase the usage of the GB crop

How?
The Potato Council will strive to meet the needs of the whole industry, employees and consumers; to deliver effective programmes of Research and Development, Market Development and Market Information and then actively communicate the results. Our success will be the incorporation of this output into production practices and consumer marketing and communication activities.

Research Areas/Themes:

• Size and uniformity
• Pest and disease status
• Processing quality
• Residues
• Seed
• Storage
• Bruising and damage
• Water
  

Constitution, Functions and Funding

The British Potato Council (BPC) is a Non-departmental Public Body (NDPB) and our operations are funded by statutory levies, paid by producers and trade purchasers of potatoes.

Our main functions are to fund research and development, transfer technology, collect and disseminate market information, and to advertise and promote potatoes at home and in export markets.

The BPC was established by the Potato Industry Development Council (PIDC) Order 1997, under the Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947, and came into being on 1 July 1997. Changes, relating to the way purchaser levies are charged, were introduced by the PIDC (Amendment) Order. This received Parliamentary approval in May 1999, and the changes came into effect on 1 July that year.  A further Amendment Order in 2002 introduced a two tier levy rate system and increased the registration thresholds for both producers and purchasers.

The Council consists of 16 members appointed jointly by the Ministers with responsibility for agriculture. The constitution of the Council, which is determined by PIDC Order, is as follows:

1. Twelve persons capable of representing industry interests;
Of these, nine members are growers and three represent the industry beyond the farm gate. One of the growers must be a specialist seed producer, and is also the Chairman of the SSG (see below)

2. One person capable of representing the interests of industry employees;

3. One person with specialist knowledge of marketing or distribution of industry products; and

4. Two persons, including the Chairman, who are independent.

BPC Committees
The Seed Sectoral Group (SSG) is a statutory committee set up by the BPC, in accordance with the requirements of the PIDC Order.

The PC also has committees for the following functions:

Marketing & Communications
Research & Development
Market Information
Audit