Public support for producers praised

One of the most influential women in the UK farming sector has thanked members of the public for an “unprecedented tsunami of support” which led to the government agreeing to let MPs scrutinise the impact of future trade deals on the UK food and farming sectors.

NFU president Minette Batters, who runs a mixed farm in Wiltshire, made the comments during a virtual debate on the role of food standards in trade deals.

The other speaker at the debate, organised by the Oxford Farming Conference, was former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who is an adviser to the UK Board of Trade.

It came a day after MPs rejected a House of Lords amendment to the Agriculture Bill, which sought to ensure imported foodstuffs met equivalent standards to those followed by UK producers.

Instead, MPs backed a government amendment to the Bill to increase parliamentary scrutiny of free trade agreements and for extra detail on how measures are consistent with maintaining UK standards.

Ms Batters welcomed the move and said a tsunami of support for the sector, including more than a million signatures for the NFU’ s food standards petition, had pushed the

government to change its stance.

“(UK Environment Secretary) George Eustice said to me six weeks ago, you are not going to get it,” said Ms Batters.

“This was as good a deal as we were going to get.”

She said other sectors would look to the farming industry with envy and want MPs to have the chance to scrutinise the impact of future trade deals on their industries too.

Ms Batters said arguments against the import of chlorinated chicken were not driven by concerns about its safety, but instead about the fact it was produced to lower standards than are required by UK farmers.

“This is about protecting values and the laws we have in place,” she added.

Mr Abbott said trade deals were unlikely to overrule laws such as the ban on chlorinated chicken in the UK.

He warned focusing too much on production standards in different countries could stall any trade deals being agreed, and said: “Providing you can meet the standards, but in a different way, what’s the problem?

“It clearly is the case that produce from some countries does carry greater risks, but I don’t think it’s an issue for products from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and even the USA.”

STANDARDS: Minette Batters said the UK Government had been unable to ignore the weight of public opinion.

Tony Abbott is an adviser to the UK Board of Trade.