Leena Räsänen appointed Director General of the Finnish Food Authority

The Government has appointed Leena Räsänen, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, as Director General of the Finnish Food Authority from 8 October 2023 to 7 October 2028. The current Director General Antti-Jussi Oikarinen will retire. A total of 16 persons applied for the post by the deadline of 24 July 2023.

Räsänen will move to her new position from the role of Director General of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland, where she was in charge of the Agency's strategic and operative management. Räsänen has previously held a wide range of positions, including at the Finnish Food Authority, the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the European Commission and an EU project in Albania. 

The Finnish Food Authority promotes, supervises and conducts research in the safety and quality of food and agricultural and forestry inputs, animal health and welfare and plant health. It implements measures under the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, rural development measures funded by the European Union and national measures supplementing these. 

Headquartered in Seinäjoki, the Finnish Food Authority is a nationwide agency that employs nearly one thousand specialists in several locations. 

- In the post of the Director General of the Finnish Food Authority I will return to my roots and the sector where I have spent most of my career. I already know that the Authority has highly skilled and dedicated staff. I recognise the challenges ahead, but I am confident that together with other operators in the sector we will succeed in promoting socially significant issues that fall within our agency's mandate, says Räsänen. 

Inquiries
Jaana Husu-Kallio, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, tel. +358 400 291 910
Leena Räsänen, Director General, Regional State Administrative Agency for Southwestern Finland, tel. +358 295 017 385, leena.rasanen(at)avi.fi