Europatat Congress 2017 confirms new high level speakers!

The Europatat 2017 Congress, co-organised by Belgapom (the Belgian Potato Traders and Processors) and Europatat (the European Potato Trade Association) will take place in Antwerp (Belgium) from 15 to 17 June 2017, at the Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel, located in the city centre of Antwerp.

Under the provocative slogan “Making the European Potato Trade great again! (it’s gonna be huge, it’s gonna be great, it’s true!)”, the Congress will focus on two major current issues for the potato sector: plant health and trade.

The conference programme features some very exciting speakers that have already been announced in the past weeks, to which the organisers have recently added some new notable names.

The morning session, dedicated to PLANT HEALTH, will feature Mr Harry Arijs (European Commission, DG SANTE); Lieven van Herzeele (Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food chain safety and environment); as well as a speaker on a case study relating to “ZEBRA CHIP”.

In the afternoon, the focus will be on TRADE, and will count with the interventions of Mr Yves Leterme (ex-Prime Minister of Belgium) for setting the scene;Mrs Lene Naesager (European Commission, DG AGRI) for an insight on the role of promotion in trade; andCedric Porter (World Potato Markets) who will talk about the Brexit effect on trade.

The organisers are very excited to have these wonderful speakers come and share their insights.

Romain Cools, Secretary General of Belgapom:

“We’re truly delighted that we have such a good and stimulating representation in our speakers.”

“We can honestly say that the congress will have something for everyone with an interest in this important sector.”

The congress will bring together the key decision makers in the European potato sector, and besides the professional working programme, it will also offer several social events (including a visit to the brand new building of the Port of Antwerp), organised to reinforce the networking and contact among the European potato community.

Participants will also have the chance to review the different activities of Europatat during the meetings of the various Europatat Commissions.