Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Food and Farming 2020-09-03
2020-09-03
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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MP inquires about the government's engagement with food and farming sectors regarding ongoing free trade agreements.
What steps her Department is taking to engage with the food and farming sector as part of free trade agreement negotiations?
We have established an agrifood trade advisory group to ensure that farmers and food producers are involved in the details of our negotiations. We have also launched the Trade and Agriculture Commission to advise and inform on agriculture, trade policies and export opportunities for UK farmers.
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Q2
Direct Answer
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MP seeks clarification on persistent media rumours regarding the UK's post-Brexit stance on food imports.
Can the Secretary of State confirm that, contrary to persistent rumours in the media, chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef will not be on our supermarket shelves post Brexit?
I can confirm that, as part of the EU withdrawal Act, the ban in place on chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef remains after we leave the transition period on 1 January 2021.
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Q3
Direct Answer
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MP addresses the chairman of the Select Committee, raising concerns over food standards and farming policies due to impending hard or no-deal Brexit scenarios.
Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to ease farmers' anger and consumers' anxiety and state categorically that there will be no changing of food standards or any compromise whatsoever in any trade deal on the high standards of the food that now goes on our supermarket shelves?
I can absolutely give the hon. Gentleman that assurance, and I point out that NFU Scotland sits as part of our Trade and Agriculture Commission, looking at future trade policy.
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Q4
Direct Answer
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MP questions the Secretary of State regarding her engagement with NFU Scotland and its stance on food import standards.
Will the Secretary of State confirm that she is at least listening to NFU Scotland, even if she does not agree with it, and will she tell the hon. Member for Moray (Douglas Ross) to give a true account of the NFU's views?
My hon. Friend the Member for Moray (Douglas Ross) is a huge champion of Scottish farming and the Scotch whisky industry, and I am working extremely closely with him. I am also working very closely with NFU Scotland, and it is involved in the Trade and Agriculture Commission.
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Q5
Direct Answer
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MP seeks assurance from the Secretary of State on legislative measures to maintain high food import standards amidst ongoing free trade negotiations.
Given that Which? tells us that 95% of the public want to maintain current food standards, why do this Government continue to rule out real legislative protections in a trade Bill that would accord with the views of our farmers, our doctors and the general public?
These standards, such as the ban on chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef, are already in UK law as part of the EU withdrawal Act. I have been explicit: it is not a matter for trade policy; it is a matter for our domestic law what standards we have in this country, and we are not trading it away.
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Q6
Direct Answer
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MP queries the Secretary of State regarding protections for infant formula food standards in future international trade deals.
The standards governing infant formula in the UK are far higher than those in the US. Will the Secretary of State take steps to protect our youngest citizens from the additional sugars and colourants permitted in the United States but banned here?
Any product that is sold in the UK has to be subject to the rules of the UK. Those standards are set by Food Standards Scotland and the Food Standards Agency in England and Wales, and those rules will not be changed as part of any trade deal with anyone.
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