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British prime minister Rishi Sunak has committed to ramp up UK food exports, committing £2m of an investment to strengthen the country’s presence at major international trade shows.
As well as this, he outlined a programme to drive UK dairy exports, backed by further investment of £1m.
There will also be additional UK agricultural attaches rolled out in key and potential UK food export markets to expand trade.
Sunak made the commitments as part of an open letter to UK farmers, shared on Tuesday. He introduced his government’s six principles to ensure British farming is at the heart of British trade.
The letter comes as part of the UK prime minister’s meeting with National Farmers Union (NFU) president Minette Batters and other UK farm sector leaders at a 'Farm to Fork' summit in Downing Street.
Commitments
Sunak has committed to protecting sensitive sectors within British agriculture, including through implementing permanent import quotas where deemed appropriate. It has yet to be seen if this could affect British lamb and beef imports, for example.
He said he will protect UK food standards under all existing and future free trade agreements. Doubling down, the UK prime minister said this will mean that there will be no chlorine-washed chicken or hormone-treated beef in the UK market.
Sunak said his government will prioritise new export opportunities for UK food and drink and will continue to work to remove market access barriers to make it easier for food producers to enter new markets.
Work continues
Responding to the open letter, the NFU has said it will continue to work to ensure that all new free trade agreements are properly scrutinised and the impacts on UK agriculture are regularly assessed once any new trade deals come into force.
“We will also continue to highlight the importance of UK production standards and the need for imports to meet the same high environmental and animal welfare standards farmers and growers adhere to here, something the prime minister also alluded to in his letter,” a spokesperson added.
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