The Mail on Sunday

Anger over move to curb farm watchdog

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MINISTERS have been accused of a last-minute bid to weaken a new food and farms watchdog for post-Brexit trade deals.

After pressure – including from The Mail on Sunday’s Save Our Family Farms campaign – to protect UK food standards, it was agreed that the Trade and Agricultur­e Commission would be put on a statutory footing.

But now a proposed amendment by Internatio­nal Trade Minister Lord Grimstone to prevent the new body from advising Internatio­nal Trade Secretary Liz Truss on matters relating to ‘human life or health’ is expected to be debated in the House of Lords this week.

Kath Dalmeny, from campaign group Sustain, said: ‘It beggars belief that the Government believes it can protect food standards while deliberate­ly excluding human health.’

A Government spokesman said it was ‘completely wrong’ to claim the commission was being weakened.

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