I am sharing this from Simon Clarke MP’s page as it is so concisely written and answers a lot of the same questions that Sedgefield constituents have submitted to me over the last few days.
FOOD STANDARDS AFTER BREXIT.
There is a misleading article from an anti-Brexit website called “The London Economic” doing the rounds on food standards now we have left the EU and have the right to set our own agriculture policy for the first time in 45 years. It’s causing some concern among constituents, so I want to set the record straight.
The minimum food safety standards that imports are required to meet remain unchanged. To quote the Minister, Victoria Prentis, in the debate on 13 May:
“I reassure colleagues that all food coming into this country will be required to meet existing import requirements. At the end of the transition period, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will convert all EU standards into domestic law. That will include a ban on using artificial growth hormones in beef. Nothing apart from potable water may be used to clean chicken carcases, and any changes to those standards would have to come before this Parliament. We will be doing our own inspections to ensure that those import conditions are met.”
Leaving the EU’s dysfunctional Common Agricultural Policy enables us to set our own farming and environmental policies and the Government is clear that farmers will be supported in their vital work to maintain our countryside.
Rather than the CAP, which paid out based on size of a farm, our new focus will be on rewarding public goods, including environmental stewardship, which will help farmers to play an even bigger role in conserving our landscapes.
Our work on international trade deals will also provide British farmers with increased market access for their high quality produce across the world. The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations to ensure any deals live up to the values of our farmers and consumers.
International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss, recently wrote an article on the huge potential benefits of a US trade deal for British farmers for Farmers Weekly which you can read at https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/farm-policy/liz-truss-us-trade-deal-will-benefit-uk-farmers
