The National Farmers Union (NFU) has called for public support for domestic food production as concern continues to grow around food imports to the UK post-Brexit.
The NFU launched a petition on its website after the Government voted against changes to the Agriculture Bill which would prevent food produced to lower animal welfare and environmental standards than is required of UK producers from being imported into the UK after the Brexit Withdrawal period. The petition currently has over 860,00 signatures at the time of writing.
NFU Cymru president John Davies said: “With UK trade negotiations with the EU and the United States ongoing and the future of the Agriculture Bill set to be debated in the House of Lords, this is a critical time for UK farming. The decisions that our politicians make over the coming weeks and months are likely to plot a course for our industry over many years to come.
“It is absolutely fantastic to see this incredible level of public support on this issue and backing for the nutritious, delicious, sustainable, climate-friendly food produced by UK farmers. I would encourage anyone who shares in these values to sign the petition and send a simple message to UK Government that we want all food eaten in the UK to match the high standards expected of our farmers.”
“Failure for such a change to be made to the Bill will have long term adverse impacts for UK food security, consumer health, our agriculture industry, global animal welfare and ecosystems as well as resulting in significant political damage for the UK Government.”
Farmers in Wales are also calling on the public to help them avoid long term adverse impacts for UK food security and consumer health.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “Whichever way your MP voted, it's not too late to lobby them for the change to be reintroduced before the Agriculture Bill becomes law.
“You can send them a letter from our website making it clear that UK consumers and food producers deserve better, and let your voice be heard.”
“We find this is completely unacceptable given that the UK Government has committed to such a principle in numerous statements, and that the principle of maintaining UK standards and protecting consumers, farmers and food producers from sub-standard imports has cross-party support. If the public wants to help - a good way is to join our campaign to stop this madness.
“I would urge anyone to ask their MP to make sure they do all they can to ensure that the proposed Clause 2 or an equivalent addition to the Bill is ultimately included before it receives Royal Assent.
“Failure for such a change to be made to the Bill will have long term adverse impacts for UK food security, consumer health, our agriculture industry, global animal welfare and ecosystems as well as resulting in significant political damage for the UK Government.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
