The NFU has joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and RSCPA to call on the government to demonstrate international leadership by introducing core animal welfare and environmental standards for agri-food imports.
This would deliver on its manifesto commitments ‘to promote the highest standards when it comes to food production’, while its recent Trade Strategy recognised concerns about the unfair competitive advantages provided by different methods of production in global supply chains.
Core standards would establish a level playing field by requiring all food imports to meet animal welfare and environmental production standards equivalent to those imposed on domestic products. This means if food is produced using methods which would not be legal in the UK, it should not be able to be imported and marketed here.
The joint call came on Wednesday as the organisations met with MPs and Peers in parliament to discuss the impacts of UK trade deals and policies that allow food imports produced to standards that would be illegal for British farmers, which undercut domestic producers and offshore our environmental impacts.
This is a problem the UK pig sector has experienced to its cost in the past, most notably following the 1999 sow stall ban, and is highly relevant going forward amid moves transition away from conventional farrowing crates and ban CO2 for stunning and killing pigs in abattoirs.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “British farmers are leading the way on sustainability and animal welfare. The UK’s trade policy must reflect that progress, not undermine it.
“Yet currently, food imported into this country is not subject to minimum animal welfare or environmental production standards. This means currently food can be imported that would be illegal for our farmers to produce here.
“At a time when Defra is consulting on raising domestic animal welfare standards, it is only right that the government protects consumers from lower‑standard imports and ensures British farmers are not unfairly forced to compete with products that would be illegal to produce here.
“As a start, we are asking for government to establish a working group, including external experts, to identify priority core standards and consider their feasibility for implementation and audit.”
Angela Francis, Director of Policy Solutions at WWF said: “UK trade policy is undermining the environment, farmers, and the high animal‑welfare and farming standards the public expects by not requiring food imports to meet the same environmental and welfare standards as UK farmers.
“Climate driven extreme weather is already causing price spikes and food shortages, yet our trade rules continue to reward farming practices that damage nature and undercut sustainable producers.
“We urgently need to ensure that the same rules that apply here also apply to food produced abroad so that the UK market safeguards the environment and backs farmers and producers, at home and overseas, who are leading the way on sustainability.”
David Bowles, Head of Public Affairs at the RSPCA said: “It is essential that the government puts core animal welfare standards into its policy thinking. Whilst we support raising standards for laying hens and pigs in the animal welfare strategy, there is no point in doing this if we just outsource our standards to other countries.
“We need a vibrant farming industry producing to high animal welfare standards supported by core standards in trade deals.”