Warning over ‘equivalence clause’

Boris Johnson faces “trouble” from Tory MPs if he fails to make changes to flagship farming reforms in order to protect food standards, the Commons has heard.

Conservative Simon Hoare welcomed the Agriculture Bill for offering certainty to farmers, but said his colleagues need putting out of their “misery” over equivalence matters.

MPs insisted food products imported under future trade deals must meet or exceed UK standards and want the government to guarantee this in law.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Hoare (North Dorset) said: “I would the urge the Treasury bench to put this side of the House out of its misery with regards to what I would call the equivalence clause.

“It’s fine and dandy that we’re not going to reduce our standards here, but if we’re going to throw our doors open to food stuffs produced at lower standards, there is absolutely no point in having an agricultural sector.”

He said Labour’s amendment, which sought to block the Bill due to a lack of control on imported goods, would not be supported, but added: “I think the minister should be aware that if it gets to report stage or third reading where such an equivalence clause has not been included in the legislation, then the whips and the Secretary of State should expect some trouble on these benches.”

Labour’s amendment was defeated by 206 votes to 320, majority 114.

The vote came after shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard said the Bill “deliberately omits” legal protections to guarantee animal welfare, food hygiene rules and protections on imported food.

He also claimed the legislation could allow food grown more cheaply and to lower standards to be imported under future trade deals, which risks undercutting British farmers and deregulating the system to enable them to compete with their US counterparts.

The Bill sets out the UK’s approach to farming now it has left the EU, with ministers looking to replace Brussels’

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that has applied in Britain since 1973.

It also moves subsidies to farmers away from the current system of payments for the amount of land farmed to one in which land managers are paid to protect wildlife and the environment and store carbon.

Neil Parish, Conservative chairman of the environment, food and rural affairs select committee, made the case for UK food production.

He said: “As we import food, let’s be careful that we’re not importing the water to grow it and we’re not taking food away from those that can least afford it.”

Opening the second reading debate, Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said the legislation offered the first “major reform of agriculture policy in this country for half a century”, adding: “Now we’ve left the European Union, we’re determined to do things differently and to pursue the priorities of the people of this great nation.”

The Bill received a second reading and will undergo further scrutiny.

Picture: Shutterstock. MPs say food products imported under future trade deals must meet or exceed UK standards.