The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (; abbreviated BMLEH) is a cabinet-level ministry of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. Its primary headquarters are located in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

with a secondary office in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. From 1949 to 2001 it was known as the Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests (). Through an organizational order by the

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. Th ...

on 22 January 2001, it became the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture after the

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

function was transferred from the Federal Ministry for Health (). The name Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection () was adopted on 22 November 2005 simply to alphabetize its functional parts in the German language. Due to the political restructurings of the 18th German Bundestag in December 2013 the division "Consumer Protection" was transferred to the

Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (; abbreviated BMJV) is a German Cabinet, cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the German federal system, individual States of Germany, States are most responsibl ...

Organization

The current Minister for Food and Agriculture is

Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (; ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany), Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the Scholz cabinet, cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz from 2021 to 202 ...

. The Parliamentary State Secretaries are

Silvia Bender Silvia Bender (born 9 March 1970) is a German Green party politician and a State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture since 2019. Life Bender was born in 1970 in Bonn, West Germany. She was appointed as the State Secretary ...

Claudia Müller (politician) Claudia Müller (born 10 August 1981) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since 2017. In addition to her parliamentary work, Müller se ...

and

Ophelia Nick Ophelia Johanna Nick ( Schily, born 24 January 1973) is a German veterinarian and politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2021 national elections, representing the Mettmann II district. ...

. In addition to the Ministry Management (including management staff), it consists of eight departments (as of September 2020): * Department 1: Central Division * Department 2: Consumer health protection, nutrition, product safety * Department 3: Food safety, animal health * Department 4: Agricultural markets, food industry, export * Department 5: Forests, sustainability, renewable raw materials * Department 6: EU affairs, international cooperation, fisheries * Department 7: Agricultural production, horticulture, agricultural policy * Department 8: Rural development, digital innovation

Agencies

Under the auspices of the BMEL are various Federal agencies, legally independent institutions under public law and government research institutes: *

Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) is an agency of the Government of Germany, German government that comes under Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany), Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). It ...

* Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food * Federal Office of Plant Varieties * Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) *

Julius Kühn-Institut Julius Kühn-Institut – Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen (JKI) is the German Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants. It is a federal research institute and a higher federal authority divided into 15 specialized institutes. Its ...

, Federal Research Center for Cultivated Plants *

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), is the Federal Institute for Animal Health of Germany, that country's leading animal disease center. The institute was founded in 1910 and named for its founder Friedrich Loeffler in 1952. The FLI is situa ...

, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health * Max Rubner-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Nutrition and Food * Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries *

Agency for Renewable Resources The Agency for Renewable Resources ( or FNR), was founded in 1993 as a government initiative intended to support research and development in the area of renewable resources A renewable resource (also known as a flow resource) is a natural reso ...

Federal ministers

Parliamentary State Secretaries

* 1969–1976:

Fritz Logemann Fritz is a common German male name. The name originated as a German diminutive of Friedrich or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor), as well ...

( FDP) * 1976–1993:

Georg Gallus Georg Gallus (6 July 1927 – 13 August 2021) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as member of the German Bundestag. Life On 10 September 1970, Gallus entered the Bundestag to replace Ralf Dahrendorf, who h ...

(FDP) * 1983–1991: Wolfgang von Geldern ( CDU) * 1991–1993:

Gottfried Haschke Gottfried Haschke (25 March 1935 – 2 December 2018) was an East German politician. He served as the last East German Minister of Food and Agriculture in the de Maizière cabinet during 1990. References 1935 births 2018 deaths Members ...

(CDU) * 1993–1998: Wolfgang Gröbl (

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

) * 1998: Ernst Hinsken (CSU) * 1998–2005: Gerald Thalheim (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

) * 2001–2005:

Matthias Berninger Matthias Berninger (born 1971) is a former German politician and member of The Greens from 1993 until 2007. From 2001 to 2005, Berninger served as Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protec ...

(

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

) * 2005–2007: Peter Paziorek (CDU) * 2005–2013:

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

(CSU) * 2007–2009: Ursula Heinen (CDU) * 2009–2011:

Julia Klöckner Julia Klöckner (born 16 December 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as President of the Bundestag, President of the German Bundestag since 25 March 2025 ...

(CDU) * 2011–2018: Peter Bleser (CDU) * 2013–2018: Maria Flachsbarth (CDU) * 2018–2021:

Hans-Joachim Fuchtel Hans-Joachim Fuchtel (born 13 February 1952) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg from 1987 until 2021. From 2018 to 2021 he also s ...

(CDU) * 2018–2019: Michael Stübgen (CDU) * 2019–2021: Uwe Feiler (CDU) * 2021–2022: Manuela Rottmann (Alliance 90/The Greens) * since 2021:

(Alliance 90/The Greens) * since 2023: Claudia Müller (Alliance 90/The Greens)

References

External links

Official English Website
Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity Food policy in Germany

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Germany, Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity 2005 establishments in Germany