NFU President Tom Bradshaw told MPs that a closer trading relationship with the European Union would benefit British farmers and growers, but that any agreement must not come at the expense of our innovative, gene editing enabling environment.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw appeared in front of MPs during a Business and Trade Committee evidence session discussing the government’s ‘reset’ in relations with the European Union.
Asked by the Chair of the Committee Liam Bryne – the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge – what the trading relationship was like with the EU for NFU members, Tom highlighted that the volume of trade with the EU had fallen by 37.4% since 2019, as demand has dropped for British products in the European market due to friction at the border.
Tom welcomed the opportunity for increased trade with the EU but highlighted the fact that the UK and the EU are no longer fully aligned in certain technological areas, including gene editing and plant protection products, adding it was important to “seize” the opportunity to become a world leader in these areas, and don’t sacrifice our technological advantage in order to reach a deal with the EU.
The NFU is lobbying the government for an exception to be applied to the UK’s gene editing legislation to ensure it isn’t affected by any UK-EU SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) agreement.
When asked by Liberal Democrat MP for Witney Charlie Maynard for thoughts about a potential UK-EU SPS common or customs zone, Tom said that reducing friction at the border was in all parties’ interests, referencing horticultural businesses that have difficulty importing plant material due to border issues and high costs.
However, Tom again made the point around the potential impacts of dynamic alignment and its impact on our ability to innovate.
“There are some really difficult issues that need solutions to them,” he told MPs. “I don’t think it is as simple as saying ‘there’s a bit of give and you’ll end up in a better position’. We can be world-leading if we get a carve out for gene editing.”
Tom also warned that, without a carve out for gene editing, the EU would restrict itself from adopting the technology, as it would lose the opportunity to use British research on the subject.
This, and the EU system for registering plant protection products, were both areas the UK should push the EU hard on during negotiations to protect British producers, Tom urged.
Why is the UK negotiating an SPS agreement?
Since its withdrawal from the European Union, the UK Government has operated an independent SPS regime in Great Britain, with Northern Ireland governed by the terms of the Windsor Framework.
This has resulted in routine border checks being applied to a range of agri-food products moving between GB and the EU.
The government wishes to remove these routine border checks on food and agricultural products, and the associated costs for businesses, through an SPS Agreement, which aligns Great Britain with EU rules in certain areas of regulation.
Without securing these carve-outs during initial negotiations, it would be unlikely we’d get them in the future, Tom warned.
