NFU President Minette Batters said:
“I am very pleased that the government is taking concrete action to address the challenges of safeguarding our high food and farming standards by agreeing to set up a Trade and Agriculture Commission, something we first called for over 18 months ago. This is a hugely important development.
“We look forward to working with government and other stakeholders in the days ahead on the Commission’s terms of reference, to ensure that its work is genuinely valuable. In particular, it will be vital that Parliament is able to properly consider the Commission’s recommendations and can ensure government implements them effectively.
“The NFU will continue to scrutinise the progress of trade negotiations with the USA and other countries over the coming months outside of the work of the Commission so that our future trade deals work for British farmers and consumers, and we believe it is vital that Parliament is provided a strengthened role in this regard as well.”
Read more:
- Why do we need a Commission? This page will answer your questions.
- NFU members: Log in to read more in this briefing for members on the principles the NFU has set out to ensure the Commission is effective
Monday 29 June 2020: Tweet to @NFUTweets from Liz Truss:
This follows productive meetings over the past few weeks and we look forward to working with @trussliz on the detail about how the Commission will work.
— National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) June 29, 2020
Full reaction to follow. https://t.co/B2RRN6WHFu
More on the NFU's work on food standards:
- NFU media coverage on food standards and trade
- NFU holds MP briefings to garner support for vital commission
- NFU food standards petition hits one million signatures
- Our food standards campaign: The journey so far
More from NFUonline:
- Watch now: A message from the President
- COVID-19 adds up to 15% on labour costs, new report shows
- NFU responds to Shortage Occupation List consultation
- NFU writes to The Guardian about eating meat article
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