About Us
The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) is a service authority within the area of responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). As a federal office under public law, directly accountable to the federal government, it fulfils a variety of tasks in the agricultural sector.
The BLE was founded in Frankfurt am Main in 1995. It resulted from merging the Federal Institute for Agricultural Market Organisation (BALM) with the Federal Office for Food and Forestry (BEF) and has two bodies: the president and the administrative council. The BLE is headed by the president, Dr. Hanns-Christoph Eiden, who conducts internal business and represents the federal authority externally.
The administrative council consists of representatives from the industry, from state and federal administrations and from consumer protection groups. It advises the BLE on fulfilling its numerous special tasks.
Location
The BLE head office is based in Bonn since 2005. Its special units, responsible for issues regarding the fishing industry, fisheries control, catch regulation and vessel management, are located in Hamburg with associated offices in Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven. BLE branches are situated in Hamburg, Weimar and Munich. Also, for activities regarding
quality control, there are offices in Bremerhaven, Frankfurt am Main (airport, wholesale market), Hamburg (harbour, wholesale market), at Cologne wholesale market and in Berlin.
Address and Contact Information
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE)
Deichmanns Aue 29
53179 Bonn
Telephone: 049 (0)228 6845-0
Fax: 049 (0)228 6845-3444, -3445, -3446
E-Mail: info@ble.de
Further addresses of the local offices can be found in this list.
