House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee - Brexit: Agriculture

There must be no undermining of food quality and safety standards as a result of leaving the EU. This is essential for consumer confidence. There must be no compromises as part of our negotiation to leave the EU or subsequent trade deals, particularly where countries have lower protection. Standards must be based on consumer engagement and therefore reflect the choice and level of protection that people expect.
An effective enforcement regime must be in place to ensure compliance with these standards, so that consumers have confidence in the products that they buy. There must be continued co-operation with EU Member States to ensure that any food safety or fraud issues are responded to quickly, given the complexity of food supply chains. European Commission checks in third countries, which we currently rely on, will need to be replicated or co-operation arrangements put in place. The national enforcement regime will need to be fit for purpose and current gaps and weaknesses addressed. A strong, independent Food Standards Agency will be essential for achieving this.
Leaving the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provides an opportunity to create a coherent food and farming policy that delivers for consumers, as well as producers. This will require a joined up approach to health, quality, welfare and environmental needs, as well as towards economic growth. Consumer acceptability of food production methods is essential to ensure sustainable growth. Therefore, consumer engagement is critical as we look to develop and shape new policy, outside of the European Union context. An approach that merely focuses on farming support in isolation from wider and fundamental challenges, such a stackling the obesity crisis, risks that we are not taking longer-term, cross-societal issues into account.
Mitigating against food price rises has to be a priority for the Government’s negotiations. In the short-medium term, this could potentially include the impact of tariffs if operating under WTO rules. Consumers spend around 11% of household expenditure on food, rising to 16% for those on the lowest incomes. Fluctuations in food prices will therefore be of great concern and will impact on people’s food choices. Our research has shown that previous rises have led to a general trading down with implications for the quality of people’s diets. Any price rises need to be transparent and honest.

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