Allowing inferior food into the UK in return for a trade deal ‘insane’: union
TRADE deals opening the UK to imported food that would be illegal to produce here would be “morally bankrupt” and “insane”, farming leaders have warned.
National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Minette Batters said the challenges of climate change, tackling wildlife declines and ensuring animal welfare would not be met by a model that “ignores the hidden cost” of how food is produced.
She also urged the Government to insist that countries who want to trade with the UK do so “on our terms” when it comes to food standards.
“To sign up to a trade deal which results in opening our ports, shelves and fridges to food which would be illegal to produce here would not only be morally bankrupt, it would be the work of the insane,” Ms Batters said.
At the NFU’s annual conference in Birmingham yesterday, she reiterated a warning that imported food should not be allowed to undercut the standards UK farmers have to meet on animal welfare, food safety and the environment.
Representatives of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) are also attending the conference.
Producers in other parts of the world wash livestock in chlorine or other chemicals, use antibiotics to promote growth, are allowed to use battery cages for egg-laying hens and do not need vets’ prescriptions for drugs, she said.
Ms Batters called for rules in the Agriculture Bill to ensure that food that would be illegal to produce here will not be imported, and for a commission to oversee trade regulations regarding food and agriculture.
She said it was an issue that would “test the moral compass of some in the Government”.
“If you raise the bar at home but refuse to legislate on imports, then I can only wonder, was the motive ever really about improving global standards in welfare or the environment after all?
“This isn’t just about chlorinated chicken. This is about a wider principle. We must not tie the hands of British farmers to the highest rung of the standards ladder while waving through food imports which may not even reach the bottom rung.”
Downing Street insisted that the UK’s high food standards would be protected in any future trade deals.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The UK has long been a world leader in food safety and animal welfare and we will continue to uphold our high food safety standards in all future trade deals.”
The UFU will join the NFU and unions from Scotland and Wales at a rally in London next month urging the Government to maintain high food standards in the UK following Brexit.
The rally is due to take place on March 25 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster.
Speaking last month, UFU president Ivor Ferguson said: “We have been campaigning and lobbying hard on this and we haven’t had any comfort yet.
“We hope to go to set up a demonstration on behalf of the four unions going forward, just to highlight the concerns to the press and the consumers.”