Ewing hits out at trade commission shortcomings
While the country’s farming unions gave a cautious welcome to the announcement of a Trade and Agriculture Commission aimed at protecting the high welfare and production standards adhered to by UK farmers, the move was slammed yesterday by the Scottish Government for falling well short of providing the necessary legislative safeguards.
And while the unions termed the move announced by the UK Government’s International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, “a significant step forward”, other commentators pointed to the fact that the proposed body’s recommendations would be ”advisory only”. Commenting on the announcement, Scotland’s rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said he absolutely agreed on the paramount need for standards to be maintained –only to add: “But this is not the way to do it.”
He said that if the UK Government was genuinely committed to maintaining current standards on food safety, animal welfare and the environment it should do so through full legislative safeguards:
“And that means new safeguards in the Agriculture Bill or Trade Bill, not just relying on existing laws that can easily be replaced.”
Ewing said that the temporary commission would lack the real teeth needed to take action – and added that there appeared to be no acknowledgement of the roles of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“We would expect devolved administrations to be fully involved in this Commission and its work.”
But while a commission had been sought by the farming unions for 18 months, NFU Scotland president Andrew Mccornick said that the terms of reference for the work of the proposed body still had to be agreed.
And he warned that it was critical that the commission properly reflected the interests of Scottish producers:
“Its independent composition would be integral to ensuring the correct representation and balance of devolved competencies in what is essentially a reserved matter, but which has major devolved interests, not least for the integrity of Scotland’s worldleading brands and PGI products.”
Mccornick said it was essential that the country’s production standards were “front and centre” and that products imported into the UK should be produced to the same standards or equivalent as those asked of UK producers – a call he said had been backed by more than a million in an online petition.
Stating that the union would engage positively in the process of establishing terms of reference for the commission, he said that the matter should be progressed with a great deal of urgency:
“Once established, we will scrutinise any future recommendations the commission makes and ensure they are in the best interests of Scottish farmers and crofters and our food and drink industry as we enter the post-brexit era.”
The announcement, which was made after several weeks of discussions between the unions and the Department for International Trade, was revealed on Twitter yesterday, with Trade Secretary Truss stating that the commissions would be tasked with drawing up a report to be presented to Parliament, noting:
“Its recommendations should be advisory only”.