MPs in the UK parliament have rejected an amendment to the Agriculture Bill from the House of Lords that would have put into law a requirement that agriculture and food products imported into the UK would have to meet domestic standards. There was support for the amendment from 14 Conservative MPs, but the government still had a comfortable majority to keep its options open in trade deal negotiations.

The leader of the National Farmers Union in England and Wales, Minette Batters, responding to the vote said: “The future of British food and farming is at stake. Without proper safeguards on future trade deals, we risk seeing an increase in food imports that have been produced to standards that would be illegal here.” Similar sentiments were expressed by the president of the Ulster Farmers Union, Victor Chestnutt, who said: “Last night’s vote in the House of Commons was a missed opportunity that has ultimately put the future of UK food and farming in jeopardy.”

The Agriculture Bill now goes back to the House of Lords before final approval by MPs, but chances of getting it amended appear slim, despite widespread support and an NFU petition with 1m signatures.

The UK has made a preliminary trade agreement with Japan and is currently in negotiation with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US, all of which are huge exporters of agricultural produce and access to the UK will be a priority for their negotiators. The US has repeatedly said a condition for a trade deal with the UK will be accepting US production standards.

See page 30.