Extract from Lords
consideration of the Rural Development (Amendment) (EU Exit)
Regulations 2019
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
(Con):...The noble Lord, , asked about
consultations. On 25 September 2018 Defra met the Rural Payments
Agency industry partnership group. The stakeholders present were
the Tenant Farmers Association, the Country Land and Business
Association, the Farming Community Network, the Institute of
Agricultural Secretaries and Administrators, the British Institute
of Agricultural Consultants and the National Farmers’ Union. A
subsequent meeting was held on 26 November 2018 between Defra and
the Rural Payments Agency IPG, as detailed above, updating
stakeholders further on legislative progress in preparing for exit.
On fisheries, a targeted engagement was carried out on the approach
to amendments involving key stakeholders from the fisheries sector,
the food industry and environmental non-governmental bodies. In
addition, a 10-week consultation was conducted through the
fisheries White Paper...
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Extract from Lords
consideration of the Organic Production and Control
(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
(Lab):...Finally, I turn to the urgent consequences that
would arise in the event of a no-deal exit. The Minister will be
aware of the serious concerns raised by the industry. In the past
couple of days, the NFU issued a press release, and the Soil
Association recently published an open letter to the Secretary of
State for Defra in which it raised concerns that the Brexit impasse
has put growth at risk, caused uncertainty for suppliers and supply
chains, and,
“risks harming the long-term prospects for more sustainable
agriculture in the UK”...
(Con):...It is obviously not within our gift to tell
the European Union exactly what to do for our exports.
However, for UK products to be exported to the EU, organic
control bodies will need to be authorised by the EU. There is
no definite length of time that it would take for this
process to happen. The Government are already in technical
conversations with the EU about making sure that it happens
as quickly as possible, so we are working hard on that. If
there is no deal, this will obviously come to the fore. We
recognise the concerns of the NFU and the Soil
Association...
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Extracts from Commons
debate on Brexit
(Holborn and St Pancras)
(Lab):...Farming would also be badly hit.
The National Farmers Union has been clear—I
think it set this out this morning—that the proposed tariff
regime would be a disaster for UK agriculture, stating that
“everything must to be done to avoid a no deal Brexit, and the
catastrophic impact this could have on British farming.”
I am not quoting the voices of politicians here; I am quoting the
voices of those in the field in each of these areas...
(Arfon) (PC):...One
concern that I have raised in the House—I did so last week—is the
effect on agriculture. NFU Cymru president John Davies said this
afternoon:
“There can be no doubt that a ‘no deal Brexit’ would be
incredibly damaging to the Welsh agricultural sector and that
eventuality should be avoided at all costs.”
In that respect, he agrees entirely with Glyn Roberts, president
of the Farmers Union of Wales. We have two farming unions in
Wales, and on this they agree.
The Secretary of State for Wales puts great store by saying he is
the voice of Wales in Westminster, and he has the opportunity
tonight, given that there is apparently a free vote, to stop
playing games and come out strongly against the calamity of no
deal.
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Extract from Commons
consideration of the Draft Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (David Rutley):...Based on
guidelines, there was no need to conduct a formal impact
assessments, but once again I can assure the hon. Gentleman that
there was maximum engagement with those bodies. Indeed, I meet
the Food and Drink Federation, the British Retail Consortium,
UKHospitality and the National Farmers Union every week to ensure
that I am fully aware of their concerns about issues such as this
and many others...
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