Career
A veterinarian and agro-economist he had a career as a civil servant in the ministry of agriculture before entering politics at the age of 46. As minister of Agriculture he has had to deal with issues including:
The bird flu epidemic of 2005, in which he made a statement that it was safe to eat cooked chicken and then famously refused to do so on television Adjusting food control regulations to comply with European Union norms, including recategorising pork and horse meat as suitable for human consumption.
