The 12 months ending 31 March was the final year of operation for the Meat and Livestock Commission after almost 41 years of achievement and outstanding service to the British red meat industry. It is not so much an end, as a new beginning. Much of our important work in the red meat sector is continuing through Bpex and Eblex in England, HCC in Wales and QMS in Scotland. Since I was appointed chairman in 2001, MLC has succeeded in generating increased demand for red meat. I'm delighted that we hand over a stable consumer marketplace with both the image of red meat and consumption levels among the most robust in Europe. Indeed, the UK home market for red meat has grown more than 13% in volume since 2001. I'm immensely proud of all that the organisation and its staff have delivered, and of the high reputation we have earned at home and abroad. These achievements are also a credit to the support we have received from Defra, farming unions, processors, retailers and stakeholders. The MLC bows out at a time when there are massive challenges facing our meat and livestock sectors. These include the desperate need to improve the financial returns received by many primary producers, the costly impacts of animal diseases such as bovine TB and bluetongue, the threat of globalised food supply chains, which do not always operate on a level playing field, and the consequences of climate change and strategies to mitigate against climate change. I wish the new Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and its sector companies well in the years ahead as we pass the baton to them.