Two Dungannon based agri-food firms have signed the world's first Prosperity Agreement.

The agreement, signed by Linden Foods and Linergy, will turn environment issues from barriers to business into economic growth opportunities.

Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan, said: "I believe the biggest impact will come from the main users of our natural resources, the business community. We need to help businesses to identify opportunities for growth that reduces reliance on finite resources, reuse and reduce waste and to rethink products.

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"I told my Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) to regulate firmly but also to be more supportive of progressive businesses which have a good compliance record. This first Prosperity Agreement is a great example, helping these progressive and compliant companies in our critical agri-food sector to reduce environmental impact in ways that boost their competitiveness in their markets."

Under the agreement, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) will redirect resources from bureaucratic processes that create no value to actions that support Linden Foods and Linergy improve their environmental performance in their own operations and throughout their supply-chain.

(CD/IT)