Farmers warn safeguards must remain in place to protect Welsh farmers from US trade deal
The Farmers’ Union of Wales has warned safeguards must continue to be in place to protect Welsh farmers from being undermined by imports produced to lower food production standards, following the announcement of the trade deal between the UK and US.
As part of the agreement, confirmed on Thursday, the US has gained broader access to the UK agricultural market, including a tariff-free quota for 13,000 tonnes of US beef and a tariff-free quota for ethanol.
The US anticipates a $5 billion increase in agricultural exports to the UK.
The UK Government has however stated that there will be no lowering of domestic food standards as part of the deal, and imports of hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken will remain illegal.
Beef Access
The deal also provides reciprocal Beef Access for UK farmers – including a tariff-free quota of 13,000 metric tonnes for UK beef exports to the US, providing a potential new market for British farmers.
As transatlantic negotiations took place over recent weeks, the FUW has intensely lobbied the UK Government to ensure Welsh agricultural interests “are not sold down the river” in pursuit of any short-term trade deal, particularly in competing with sub-standard imports from across the Atlantic.
Whilst the agreement enshrines imported food and agricultural goods must comply with the importing country’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, the FUW has highlighted the divergence between food safety standards, and food production standards.
Food produced to different standards could undermine Welsh farmers, as has already been the case in previous trade deals.
Collateral damage
FUW President, Ian Rickman said: “The Farmers’ Union of Wales has repeatedly stressed over recent weeks that Welsh agriculture must not become collateral damage in the UK Government’s pursuit of short-term trade concessions with the US, by forcing farmers into an unfair competition with cheaper, sub-standard US imports.
“We therefore recognise the UK Government’s assurance that this agreement will not compromise food, environmental or animal welfare standards.
“While reciprocal beef access presents distinct opportunities for farmers, an influx of US beef imports could however disrupt our domestic market and undermine Welsh farmers already grappling with unprecedented uncertainty.
“Comprehensive and unambiguous country-of-origin labelling is therefore vital to ensure the UK public can make fully informed purchasing decisions. Furthermore, meticulous scrutiny and policing of imports must be non-negotiable. Any deviation in standards would constitute a betrayal of Welsh farmers, our food sector, as well as potentially undermining any future trading relationship with the EU.
“Over recent years, Welsh farmers have too often borne the brunt of trade deals forged with countries that prioritise different food production standards. These have undermined UK food production, whilst delivering little return in regard to new markets or tangible opportunities.
“As the dust settles over the coming weeks, we will continue to keep a close eye on developments.”
‘Nervous’
Neil Shand, chief executive of the National Beef Association, said the industry “remains very nervous” about the current Government’s policies.
Asked what the UK would gain from the deal, he told Times Radio: “We have access to the US market. We had limited access – there’s a carryover of a WTO (World Trade Organisation) deal that the US had, that existed from pre-Brexit times, and we were allowed to send small amounts of beef to the US, but this will allow our market to grow as well.
“In volume terms, there is an argument that they have a bigger access or a larger quantity into our market. But in the overall scheme of things, 13,000 tonnes is not a huge amount of beef, if you consider last year we imported 241,000 tonnes.
“We’re not self-sufficient, and it is important that we are able to provide beef eating consumers with a product.”
Mr Shand said it was likely the US-imported beef would be used in the services industry instead of being sold on supermarket shelves, as leading retailers “are not going to break rank” on British beef agreements.
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I understand the safeguards are there but that we have to do this is down to brexit. We are not the behemoth on the world stage the leavers wanted you to believe. We are minnows as this has proven.
So, farmers, you want a better deal, start to get your politicians accepting of joining the EU.
About time there was a grass roots “buy anything but American”.
And have a word with ARTD, he is an embarrassment.
Selling out to the US fascism again ?
The USA has a regime that makes its people poorer every day, they have no real democracy. They have the same regime as Putin in Russia.
No democracy should trust a nation them until it becomes a multi-party democracy.
Welsh lamb is the best. Welsh food is the best.
We need fair trade.
Trade within the European market !!!!
Next week we’ll see farmers cheering on Trump’s poodle climate change denying Farage having voted for Brexit. Then next month they’ll be outside the Senedd demanding massive payouts from the taxpayer because climate change has hit their farms and post Brexit trade deals and farming policies are not want they thought they’d be.
Having eaten U.S. beef in the states, Welsh farmers have nothing to fear , Welsh Black beef tastes 10 times better.
.. and that should be the acid test. Eat Trump’s muck if you want it cheap and tacky.
I have had excellent steaks over there but it’s top of the shop stuff (USDA prime etc.).
Which is a dilemma here because if they price it in under our stuff then that is an issue. Which is where you need a grass roots don’t but it.
If that’s true we should be aggressively selling into their high-end market.
Why not concentrate on ensuring that US imports are labelled clearly and let the consumer decide if they want to eat stuff. Perhaps a publicity campaign to inform the public that if they wish to consume meat with added hormones and chicken that might have been produced in a less hygienic way leading to it needing to be chemically treated before it’s sold might not be a bad idea.
Farming communities UK wide generally supported Brexit although they were warned that trade deals might impact their businesses. But they also do not want to pay tax, want subsidies and are still trashing the enviroment with insecticides, de-worming drugs and chicken poo.
That maybe a generalisation but as a group they have been on the wrong side of the fence on too many issues and even on food standards they are not paragons of virtue.
Perhaps they should support moves back to the EU?
No one needs to be in the EU when it comes to embracing standards. That should be a matter of choice for the farming community and consumers here. Better standards would probably align us with EU market expectations and ensure that meats sourced from US have to be produced to higher specifications.
You can see what choice has been made in the US and that choice was not made by the consumer. That choice has a human cost that effects us all.
It was pretty obvious to all that the whole point of leaving was the freedom from regulation and red tape getting in the way of business. The billionaires that bankrolled Brexit believe that consumers not government should be choosing between cheap and probably toxic vs high quality that uses up their entire food budget.