The new partnership, announced at the World Meat Congress in Paris on Tuesday will be a three-way arrangement between the private sector, the governmental delegates to the FAO and non-governmental organisations and consumer groups.

The partnership will work on an international level to draw together research and studies to establish new standards for greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable livestock farming.

The new secretary general of the IMS Hsin Huang said: "It is a path-breaking approach.

"It is about taking the best of what is already out there. We are not about reinventing the wheel.

"But we have to have a reasonable and fair debate about the issues."

Hsin Huang added that it is important for the International Secretariat to take part in the ground-breaking partnership.

Past president of the IMS and chairman of the organisation's sustainability committee, Paddy Moore said that then IMS wants to be at the axis of providing information on greenhouse gas emissions' information.

He echoed the secretary general's call for a fair and reasonable debate and called for standards to be drawn up using best practice and sound science.

He also appealed to organisations within the IMS that already have experts in the field to make use of their expertise."

"You have to get your message across," he said.

He earlier said that the global meat industry was in "a pretty good position".

"The challenge is to produce sustainably and to make money with it as well."