I have received hundreds of emails from East Devon residents seeking assurances that our environmental, animal welfare and food standards will not be lowered in pursuit of future free trade agreements.
I have also spoken to the National Farmers’ Union and East Devon’s farmers regularly since being elected last December and share these concerns. It’s why I voted for an amendment to the Agriculture Bill as it passed through Parliament last month. The amendment, known as New Clause 2, was led by neighbouring Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish and sought to protect against lowering our import standards through a legislative guarantee. Unfortunately, the amendment could not attract support from the required number of MPs. However, it demonstrated the strength of feeling on the issue in East Devon which I have made exceptionally clear in discussions with Ministers.
I was pleased to hear the UK government reaffirm over the weekend that our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards – as well as our existing import standards – will not be lowered in pursuit of any trade deal. In a joint letter to MPs, the International Trade Secretary and Environment Secretary stated: “We remain firmly committed to upholding our standards outside the EU and the EU Withdrawal Act will transfer all existing EU food safety provisions, including existing import requirements, onto the UK statute book”.
The import standards include a ban on using artificial growth hormones in domestic and imported products and set out that no products, other than safe drinking water, are approved to decontaminate poultry carcasses. Any changes to existing food safety legislation would require new legislation to be brought before Parliament. The UK’s food standards, for both domestic production and imports, are overseen by the Food Standards Agency, an independent body that ensures all food imports comply with the UK’s high safety standards.
It’s time to stop playing politics with poultry. We should always put our farmers first. Quite rightly, they do not want to see our animal welfare standards lowered. Nor should their livelihoods be put at risk by imported produce which may be illegal to produce here. Consumers likewise take pride in buying British produce in the knowledge it is safe to eat and meets our strict animal welfare regulations.
I will continue to press the government on their detailed plans for import standards and labelling of produce during future free trade negotiations. I want to take this opportunity to thank East Devon’s farmers for their hard work getting the best of British produce from farm to fork.