The case in summary: Norway is restoring grain warehouses more than 20 years after they were discontinued. An agreement on the storage of the first 30,000 tonnes of grain will be signed on Tuesday. By 2029, the plan is to have emergency stocks for three months’ consumption of food wheat, i.e. 82,500 tonnes of grain. The state must own the grain, while commercial actors must store and take care of it. Pandemic, climate change and war in Europe make it necessary to rebuild grain stocks. Last year, the Total Preparedness Commission recommended the creation of grain stocks, and suggested a grain stock of six months’ consumption. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. It is happening roughly 20 years after the grain warehouses in Norway were liquidated. The agreement, which will be signed on Tuesday, covers the storage of the first 30,000 tonnes of grain. Towards the end of the decade, the plan is for the emergency stocks to house three months’ consumption of food wheat for bakeries, industry and households. That means 82,500 tonnes of grain, according to the government. Pandemic, war in Europe and climate change make it necessary to rebuild grain stocks in Norway, the government believes. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB The security situation has greatly worsened Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad announces that he is in Hamar today to highlight that the government is working on building emergency grain storage in Norway. – We mark today that the first contacts will be signed for grain storage, says Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad (Sp). He says that the security policy situation has greatly deteriorated. That is why the Center Party and the Labor government are keen to strengthen preparedness. – Food preparedness is an important part of this. We must be prepared for unthinkable things to happen. And, in such a situation, we will need food, he says. He further explains that these are contracts to be implemented in 2024-2025. The contracts apply to storage for 25 years. – Then we will gradually build this up until 2029. So that we then have enough grain for three months’ consumption of Norway’s population in a crisis situation that may arise, he says. An important step in the right direction Harald Sunde, head of the Total Preparedness Commission, says that in a preparedness context it is important to establish stocks of raw materials and spare parts for things we need in a crisis situation. Today, two ministers will help sign contracts for the delivery of grain storage. In Norway, we have a self-sufficiency rate of 40 per cent for food. – The Total Preparedness Commission submitted its report last year. We looked at a number of societal functions and how we need to change our society in order to be prepared, he says. Head of the total preparedness commission, Harald Sunde, is working to secure Norway a number of goods should a crisis arise. Photo: William Jobling / news He goes on to say that we live in a world that changes very quickly, and one of the topics that they analyzed was access to food. – We recommended that we must establish a warehouse of grain products. This was further emphasized this spring, where we also saw that we lacked seed due to a spring year the year before, he says. He goes on to say that it is important to locate where shortages can occur, and then we have to do something about it by establishing warehouses. Because we have a society that is used to being able to buy what we need and we have received it just in time. But, now we have to change our thinking to be a precaution. Store all over the country The state will own the grain, while commercial players will store and take care of it. For this year and next year, there are four players who have signed the contract that they will store tons of grain on behalf of the country. One of them is Strand Unikorn in Hamar. The others are Norgesmøllene AS, Fiskå Mølle AS and Lantmannen Cerealia AS. The contracts are for 25 years. This will provide predictability both for the state and the actors who will be responsible for the storage, the government believes. In the autumn, new contracts will be announced, starting in 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029. Recommends six months of use The Total Preparedness Commission presented a report last year in which they recommended that the government establish a grain warehouse. In the report, the commission wrote that the Directorate of Agriculture initially recommends a grain stock of six months’ consumption. Published 25.06.2024, at 08.02 Updated 25.06.2024, at 08.04
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The government will establish emergency storage for food grains – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
