Standards need to be regulated so that farming families aren’t stifled
FARMERS in Wales are proud that they produce food to world-leading environmental, animal health and welfare, and food safety standards. The FUW has therefore been clear that post-brexit, these standards need to be protected and retained within domestic law.
However, our standards need to be regulated in a proportionate way so that farming families are not stifled when it comes to innovation. Disproportionate regulations could also lead to unjustified restrictions, and place our farmers at a severe competitive disadvantage against other countries’ agricultural produce. Our standards are already high and that baseline mustn’t be increased any further.
We therefore rejected the Agriculture (Wales) White Paper proposals to adopt compulsory National Minimum Standards, which suggested that such standards will be raised but may only apply to farmers, leaving other landowners exempt.
Such a move would not only be prejudicial, but would increase the competitive advantages of farmers in other parts of the UK and the world against whom we compete.
It’s worth remembering that many farmers also adhere to additional regulation through farm assurance schemes and animal health and welfare requirements, despite there often not being a financial benefit for doing so.
Whilst the current direct payment scheme effectively rewards compliance with scheme rules and having to cope with an (Eu-derived) regulatory baseline, the Agriculture (Wales) White Paper proposes only rewarding for ‘additionality’, i.e. actions over and above the regulatory baseline.
The Welsh Government has already raised the baseline significantly and intends to raise it further whilst removing direct payments.
We are quite clear that such an approach further places us at a competitive disadvantage to producers in the EU and elsewhere.
We have therefore called on the next Welsh Government to ensure that any regulation proposals are properly evidenced, proportionate and do not add to economic pressures on farms.
It is essential that the regulatory baseline is not raised at the expense of farming families, with ever-changing and escalating regulations, and we must encourage innovation, education and incentivisation to deliver on sustainable production methods as opposed to limitations.
The next Welsh Government must test new and existing legislation against a ‘competitive disadvantage’ test to ensure Welsh farmers are not disproportionately regulated against their competitors and prioritise working partnerships and collaborative working between Government and its agencies to reduce bureaucracy and encourage positive engagement with the industry.
On a final note this week, we absolutely have to ensure that any new civil sanction powers gained under a Welsh Agriculture Act are policed in a consistent and fair manner across all enforcers, and in a way which does not lead to the unnecessary criminalisation of our farmers.