Industry urges government to uphold food standards

A coalition of farming, environmental, animal welfare and public health organisations have urged the government to ensure its manifesto commitments to UK food standards are protected post-Brexit.

A letter to Boris Johnson, organised by the NFU and signed by 60 organisations, was sent to coincide with the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which now has Royal Assent. Within the letter the groups say that Brexit “provides a vital opportunity for the UK to lead the way in devising a global trading system fit for the 21st Century” and that it’s also a catalyst for “UK farming not just to be the envy of the world, but to provide gold-standard model for high standard, high quality, sustainable food production.”

However the joint letter states that it is “vital that we have more than just verbal assurances to ensure our standards are properly safeguarded.”

The organisations call for the government to establish a trade and standards commission to ensure that animal welfare and food production standards are upheld during trade negotiations.