NFU head of policy Andrea Graham will address the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture on the importance to domestic food production of science-based regulation.
Speaking ahead of the appearance, and the release of the industry report, ‘Going against the Grain’, Dr Graham said GM feed products, particularly soya beans, are vitalto provide the right balance of nutrition for poultry and livestock production.
And she added that with 95 per cent of EU soya imported from North and South America, protecting supply chains from the disruption of dysfunctional EU regulation is incredibly important.
She said: “Feed is a significant proportion of farm production costs –55-65 per cent for the pig and poultry sectors. Any disruption to the trade flows of protein feed and resulting price rises, passed onto the farmers, puts significant strain on farm businesses and undermines competitiveness.
“The necessity for a functioning and reliable approvals system for GM feed imports has never been so clear.
“The NFU has played an active role in the Agricultural Biotechnology Council’s new report. It underlines the negative impacts of restricting trade of EU-approved GM products of the Single Market but also more widely on jobs, growth and innovation.
“The rules and regulations around GM in the EU must be firmly based on sound scientific evidence and not on national politics or perception. And farmers should have the choice to access authorised technologies available to their competitors around the world.”