Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Financial Support for Food Producers

Tuesday 19 May 2020 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial support for UK food producers includes HM Treasury and DEFRA support packages for dairy and fishing sectors.
  • DEFRA and DIT aim to maintain high food and animal welfare standards in trade agreements.
  • UK global tariff retains protection for key agricultural products post-Brexit.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tommy Sheppard SNP
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP noted the severe economic impact of the covid-19 outbreak on UK food producers. He highlighted the need for additional financial assistance to help them recover and sustain their operations.

Question

What additional financial support does he plan to provide to food producers to mitigate the effect of the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from George Eustice

We are working closely with agriculture and fishing industries to manage negative impacts of covid-19. In addition to HM Treasury's support packages, DEFRA has announced schemes for dairy and fishing sectors, continuing to monitor other areas.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not specify additional financial support beyond existing measures or future plans.

How: We Are Working Closely, Continuing To Monitor

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Q2 John McNally SNP
Brexit Business & Trade Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP is concerned about the potential compromise of high standards for animal welfare, phytosanitary measures, and food production as part of upcoming trade deals. He specifically asks whether DEFRA will insist on maintaining these high standards with their counterparts in international trade.

Question

Will DEFRA Ministers go further and insist with their counterparts in the Department for International Trade on high standards for animal welfare, phytosanitary and food production imports to protect our domestic food producers?

Answer from George Eustice

The Government are clear about maintaining high food and animal welfare standards as we approach trade agreements. The UK will set its own domestic standards for SPS issues, such as food safety, at a UK level without compromising these standards in response to other countries' demands.

Answered
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Q3 Tommy Sheppard SNP
Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The MP notes the announcement by the Department for International Trade regarding new tariff regimes after Brexit. He questions how DEFRA Ministers will ensure these tariffs continue to favor long-established and profitable EU trade sectors while preventing lower-quality imports from other countries.

Question

I note that today's announcement by the Department for International Trade does not change agricultural tariffs, so how will DEFRA Ministers ensure that the new tariff regimes after Brexit continue to favour our long-established and profitable trade in that sector with member states of the European Union? How will they ensure that the tariffs prevent our marketplace from being flooded with low-quality products from elsewhere in the world?

Answer from George Eustice

The UK global tariff retains tariffs for key agricultural products, including sensitive items. We seek to grant tariff-free access to EU trading partners through a free trade agreement and maintain tariffs to protect the market from low-standard products from other countries.

Answered
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