♦ Click here to take a look at our timeline of activity on Brexit from 2016 to now.
♦ It’s been a busy few years when comes to Brexit. But what else has the NFU worked on for its members? See how the numbers stack up here.
Director of Trade and Business Strategy Nick von Westenholz outlines the NFU's journey...
Shortly after the result of the EU referendum in June 2016, the NFU took the decision to create a dedicated unit to manage our approach to the many critical issues that would arise from our decision to leave the EU.
This has meant we have been able to devote the necessary time and resources to addressing the enormous new challenges and identifying the opportunities for farm businesses that such a momentous change presents, while at the same time continuing to service members’ interests across the range of issues they have always faced.
Our exit from the EU has meant significant change and adjustment for the industry on numerous fronts – agricultural policy, trade, labour and regulation – even if that change has taken longer to crystallise than might have been expected back in 2016.
On domestic agricultural policy, we set out early our strategic vision for a new approach encompassing three core elements: rewards and incentives for environmental and more sustainable farming practices; measures to improve farm productivity; and support to ensure farms remain resilient in the face of volatility.
And all the while, the government should recognise farmers and growers as food producers, and food security as an important public good. Debates on the form and shape of future policy continue, but important progress has been made in realising our vision and influencing the government’s thinking in the years since Defra first set out its own proposals for change in 2018.
Of course, none of this will count for much if we pursue an international trade policy that undermines our farmers and puts us at a competitive disadvantage against food imports produced to lower standards.
We’ve continued to resist the disastrous implications of leaving the EU without a deal, where the tariffs on our exports to the EU would lead to disastrous falls in prices in many sectors. And we’ve secured clear commitments from the UK government that it will safeguard our high standards in each of its trade negotiations, alongside the establishment of a Trade and Agriculture Commission. Again, these challenges are not yet resolved and will continue over the years ahead.
On labour, the ending of free movement has created huge uncertainty as to how UK farms will ensure an adequate workforce in the years ahead, and our future immigration system remains unclear. Nevertheless, our arguments have meant farming is the only sector that has been recognised as needing a sector scheme for seasonal workers, and we continue to lobby to secure a scheme that is sufficient for our needs.
Throughout the past four years, the NFU has ensured that all of our work on Brexit has been based on sound evidence, and our arguments have been robust and credible. We have also ensured that members have been kept up to date with developments, made aware of the likely impact of proposals on their businesses, and been provided with regularly updated advice and guidance to help prepare for our departure from the EU.
The political nature of Brexit, and the entrenched position of both its supporters and its detractors, has made our lobbying all the more challenging. But despite this, we have secured many notable successes over the last four years. There are more challenges to come as well as opportunities to secure further successes, and the NFU will continue to commit the time and resources necessary to get the most for our members and for British farming.
The NFU's work on Brexit
Click on a year to skip quickly to the content:
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020
2016
April: The NFU commissioned world-leading agricultural research institute, the LEI at Wageningen University, to consider the impact of a number of possible trade and farm support scenarios that would be open to the UK Government in the event of the country voting to leave the EU.
Based on its report – Implications of a UK Exit from the EU For British Agriculture – and other existing evidence available at the time, NFU Council resolved that the interests of farmers were best served by remaining in the European Union. A series of 28 member meetings were held, which all members were welcome to attend, at which the details of the report were outlined.
Although Council agreed that the NFU would not be actively campaigning in the referendum, the NFU was required to register as a campaigning organisation so it could continue to provide members with information and analysis of issues affecting farmers.
July: The NFU produced an ‘options paper’ outlining its ambitious vision for British agriculture post-Brexit – covering crucial areas such as trade, access to labour, financial support and regulation – and embarked on its biggest ever consultation with members who were actively encouraged to share their views on what was needed from a future domestic agricultural policy. Around 50 consultation meetings, which were open to all members, were held across the regions in August and September.
September: A new Brexit unit was created by the NFU – led by a new director, Nick von Westenholz – to ensure a coordinated and constant presence in Brexit conversations with government and to make sure members were kept regularly up to date with what the likely impacts of Brexit would be on their businesses.
2017
March: The first of the NFU’s Vision for the Future of Farming documents was published, focusing on domestic agricultural policy and making it clear that a Brexit that undermined British agriculture would have a major impact on farm businesses, local communities and the wider economy.
May: The second Vision for the Future of Farming documents – A New Outlook on International Trade – was published and highlighted the importance of an ambitious free trade agreement with the EU which maintained tariff-free trade and avoided costly and disruptive customs checks, processes and procedures.
July: The third Vision for the Future of Farming report – Access to a competent and flexible workforce – showed there could be a significant shortage of people to work on Britain’s farms and throughout the food and farming sector if Government did not address growing concerns over access to labour.
August: The fourth Vision for the Future of Farming report – A regulatory regime that’s fit for purpose – said the government should take advantage of the opportunity Brexit presented to create a regulatory environment for farming that was streamlined, grounded in science and respected realistic farm practices.
October/November: A series of Brexit Roadshows run jointly by the NFU and AHDB, and open to all members, were held to discuss the political and economic outlook for the industry post-Brexit and possible implications for farm businesses.
October: The NFU published its DAP vision: delivering a bold and ambitious future for farming report, which stressed the importance of government setting out its intention for future agricultural policy early and creating a regulatory environment for farming that was streamlined, grounded in science, and respected realistic farm practices. This document was underpinned by more detailed and comprehensive documents for each of the three cornerstones – volatility, productivity and the environment.
2018
March: The NFU published its report – Improving pesticide regulation: the challenges and opportunities of transferring EU pesticide regulation into UK law – which looked at how pesticide regulation could be improved post-Brexit.
October: The first Brexit Toolbox for NFU members was published providing advice and guidance on preparing for Brexit and the impacts it could have on farm businesses. There have now been nine editions of the toolbox – now called the EU Relationship Toolbox – produced to help members with their preparations.
October: Farming leaders from Europe and the UK, led by the NFU, came together in London to at the high-level conference Beyond Brexit: farming for our future to call on policymakers to recognise the strategic importance of food and farming businesses in negotiations.
November: The NFU Bitesized Brexit podcast was launched as a convenient way for members to stay up to date with developments in the Brexit process and to highlight the issues members needed to be aware of for their businesses. A total of 11 podcasts were produced between November 2018 and February 2019.
November: Members were provided with an Agriculture Bill – email your MP tool which included a pre-written email to their MP, which could be personalised to reflect their business, asking them to speak up for farming during the Report Stage debate of the Agriculture Bill. More than 400 members used the tool.
December: An extraordinary meeting of NFU Council agreed six principles to guide the NFU in aiming to deliver the best outcome from Brexit for British farmers.
December: The NFU brought more than 70 representatives from the agri-food supply chain together in London in December to discuss the impacts of the UK leaving the EU without a deal in place.
2019
February: At NFU Conference, then Defra Secretary Michael Gove agreed to the NFU’s request to introduce a trade and standards commission to ensure the UK’s future trade policy did not undermine British farming’s high environmental and animal welfare standards.
March: Following concerns raised by the NFU, Defra removed the set requirement for a three-day pre-notification period when importing plants and plant products from the EU in the event of a ‘no-deal’.
May: The NFU prepared a briefing on the amendments and changes it believed were necessary to the Agriculture Bill and an email your MP tool to enable members to ask their MP to sign up to the key amendments and speak in support of the NFU's five key priority areas during the remaining stages of the Bill.
May: The NFU lobbied to get agriculture included on the Migration Advisory Committee’s list of jobs in short supply and that need to be filled by non-UK workers post-Brexit, highlighting a range of critical jobs that many non-UK workers perform on farms at all skill levels, such as dairy herdsmen and poultry technicians. The NFU asked members to complete a survey to help inform its response to the MAC.
August: After the announcement on the end of free movement, the NFU challenged government to ensure farming could access vital overseas workers now and in the future, writing to the Home Secretary to reiterate the absolutely crucial role EU workers play delivering safe, traceable and affordable food to the British public and calling for support from key industry stakeholders and trade associations.
September: NFU President Minette Batters wrote to the then Secretary of State for Defra, Theresa Villiers, asking her to establish a trade and standards commission to ensure the UK’s future trade policy did not undermine British farming’s high environmental and animal welfare standards.
October: Responding to the Government tariff review, NFU President Minette Batters said the government had severely undermined the British farming industry by confirming it would remove the tariff safeguards for a number of key agricultural sectors in the event of a no-deal Brexit, including grains, eggs, fruit and vegetables and a number of dairy products.
October: The NFU responded to a Department of International Trade consultation on a prospective trade agreement between the UK and Japan post-Brexit urging the government to prioritise a trade agreement with Japan over the ones with USA, New Zealand and Australia and to aim for at least a similar level of market access that the EU negotiated.
2020
January: The NFU announced that hundreds of farmers from across the country would gather in London in March to join the NFU in a rallying call to Government, urging them to commit that future UK trade policy will not allow imports of food produced to standards that would be illegal in the UK. The event had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
January: The NFU analysed the Agriculture Bill, identifying key themes that affect farmers and their farming business and providing sector-specific insight for members.
January: The NFU took the initiative and mobilised a coalition of more than 60 farming, environmental, animal welfare and public health organisations to write to Prime Minister in support of the government’s stated commitment to ensuring standards of UK food production are not undermined after we leave the EU and develop our own independent trade policy.
May: The NFU convened a coalition of 26 farming, environmental and animal welfare organisations to write to all 650 MPs and urge them to ensure the new Agriculture Bill included vital safeguards which ensured the food we import in any potential trade deals met the same high standards of animal welfare and environmental protection as is expected of UK food producers.
May: The NFU launched a ‘write to your MP’ tool for members to encourage their MPs to take part in the debate on the Report Stage of the Agriculture Bill on May 13 and nearly 2,000 emails were sent to 330 MPs in just six days.
May: NFU President Minette Batters wrote to all MPs urging them to ask how the government intended to honour its manifesto pledge that British farming’s high environmental and animal welfare standards would not be undermined in future trade policy, and continued to press for the creation of a Trade, Food and Farming Standards Commission to review policy and develop solutions to promote free trade while holding all food imports to the UK’s high food standards.
June: More than one million people pledged their support for British farming and food production by signing the NFU’s petition urging government to ensure future trade deals did not lead to an increase in food imports that would be illegal to produce here and more than 78,000 people wrote to their MP urging them to support the introduction of a Trade, Food and Farming Standards Commission. Coverage
June: Following concerted NFU lobbying, the Government announced it would create a Trade and Agriculture Commission. NFU President Minette Batters describes it as a “hugely important development”. NFU director of EU exit and international trade Nick von Westenholz was appointed a member of the Commission.
August: The Department for International Trade announced the formation of 11 trade advisory groups to help ensure the progress of trade negotiations, with the NFU named as a member of the agri-food advisory group. This brought the NFU closer to the negotiating table with the ability to scrutinise the detail as talks with the rest of the world progress and advise the government on the key issues for British food and farming.
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