Write to your MP to push message on food standards
NFU Derbyshire county advisor ANDREW CRITCHLOW on what farmers and consumers can expect post-brexit
THE issue of standards applied to imported food after this year – when current EU trade deal terms no longer apply to how the UK trades with the EU and the wider world – has been making headlines these past few week weeks.
This will be especially important with regard to trade with non-eu countries, often known as “third” countries.
It not so much the headline items of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef, because of the public outcry that would ensue if they were allowed entry into Britain.
Supermarkets probably would not source them – or at the very least they would be labelled as such and most consumers would not choose them. The bigger issue is how crops are grown and how animals are reared in other countries – the welfare and environmental conditions.
It can be small differences that will not be asked about by consumers, and suppliers will not put on labels – and certainly not on menus.
They can be hidden away when used as ingredients in food products.
Consumers will not be aware they are produced to lower standards than the UK. Such imports would undercut UK food on price. It cannot be right to let UK self-sufficiency drop any further. It is now around 60% when it was above 80% in the mid-1980s.
So it seemed to be disappointing last week when Lord Curry’s amendment was not deemed acceptable by the House of Commons clerks, on the grounds of technicality.
This amendment sought to give the Trade and Agriculture Commission, what NFU fought for with the 1 million signature petition, to be given a stronger legal basis rather than the short-lived advisory role it has now.
However, not tabling the amendment did enable a good
debate on the importance of food standards. Farming Minister Victoria Prentis used her closing remarks to say she would talk to Secretary of State Liz Truss on this again.
The NFU president, Minette Batters, has since met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and pressed home the need and the public support for the standards of imported food to be protected.
In this game of legislative ping-pong, the Agriculture Bill should have been debated again by the House of Lords, including a re-jigged Curry amendment on Tuesday.
If the Lords have approved it, MPS will get a chance to vote on the amendment when the Bill once again returns to the House of Commons in the near future.
There is still time to drop your MP a quick email or letter on why food standards are important.
This is the first major agriculture Bill for 70 years.
It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help shape the future of British Agriculture, your food production – and of course the rural landscape you love.