I am most grateful to the noble Baroness and I think she confirmed the need for physical checks. I have not considered plants or people in Amendment 212. There is a very real problem, which I have raised separately and privately, of the tripartite agreement between France, Britain and Ireland in relation to racing. That covers not just the racehorses but the stable lads and jockeys. But for today’s purposes I am restricting my remarks to animals and food products. The other reassurance I seek is that there will be sufficient vets. We might not have sufficient vets when these arrangements come into place next year, or other relevant inspectors at borders and UK ports by 11 pm on the magic date of 29 March 2019.
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It is fanciful to think that animal welfare, health and hygiene can be dealt with by technology, unless the Minister can put my mind at rest on that. I am having great difficulty with the arguments perpetuated by those who wish us to rush into these new arrangements without considering what needs to be in place. I know from my conversations with the Food Standards Agency that a whole raft of internal domestic legislation needs to be brought into play.
It has been stated that the United Kingdom becomes a third country on the date of Brexit, and that UK food businesses have to assess the need for and make changes to comply with the multiple regulations, including,
“the labelling of food placed on the EU-27 market as of the withdrawal date”.
The Minister will no doubt be familiar with that notice to stakeholders from the EU Commission dated 1 February this year, on the withdrawal of the UK and EU food law. That notice sets out an alarming number of regulations, which I presume will fall into the category of “directly applicable” but which will form the subject of the Bill. They will have to be transposed by the time that we leave, so I would like an indication of what the timetable is. The notice impacts not just on the UK and national authorities in preparing, but on private parties such as food producing businesses. Many of those must ensure that they comply with these regulations, presumably by 30 March next year.
There is also a need to prevent the import of what I would say was substandard meat into the United Kingdom. This is a different issue from that of the northern/southern Irish border. That relates to imports of food and meat from Argentina, Brazil and the USA which meet lower standards—often considerably lower—than consumers in this country are used to.
The spectre is also being raised of a free trade agreement, as the Prime Minister set out on Friday. I will refer to the OECD paper on free trade arrangements, which is doing the rounds of the Committee at the moment. It specifically sets out that, as a general rule, developing countries are normally and rightly helped more in those circumstances, but that sometimes has the unintended consequence of pushing food prices up here. We have already seen how the 15% to 20% fall in the value of the pound on the result of the referendum served to push prices up. That is before we even consider what the impact will be if there is no deal, or what the consequences of tariffs as well as non-tariff barriers and rules of origin will be. We will then have to agree on the nomenclature of each individual product. Obviously if it is a carcass, as the noble Baroness suggested earlier, it is easily identifiable; but if it is a sausage, it is commensurately much more difficult to describe and agree on before the tariff can be set.
I understand that many of the small and medium-sized companies involved in the production of food are extremely alarmed at the potential increased cost for them. Currently, the UK exports to the EU 40% of our lamb, 80% of our dairy products and 75% of wheat and barley. The NFU and other farm organisations argue that it is vital that we have zero-tariff, frictionless trade with the EU, as indeed the Prime Minister seeks. I point out that the EU is far from self-sufficient in the sheepmeat sector and that it imports considerable quantities from New Zealand and Australia. The UK is currently one of four producing member states, including also Spain, Greece and France, which between them produce 68% of the EU’s sheepmeat requirements.
I emphasise that having been brought up in Teesdale in the Pennines, represented North Yorkshire and met farmers regularly, I know that the importance of live trade to hill farmers across the whole United Kingdom is substantial. While the live trade may be small in
quantity and highly regulated, it provides a substantial livelihood to hill farmers which would be threatened. If we end the live trade, it will have the perverse consequence of opening the way to more imports into the EU from New Zealand and Australia. Australian and New Zealand lamb already accounts for 23% of EU consumption.
To sum up, with Amendment 212 I am seeking an assurance from the Minister about the type of border checks that will be required for animals and animal products and whether physical checks on farm and other agricultural products will be required. Will he admit that technology simply will not work and, if that is the case, can he assure the Committee that the FSA, vets and other enforcement officers will have all the staff and resources they require? I also seek a commitment from the Minister that all the regulations set out in the notice I referred to will be in place before March next year. Finally, I hope he will accept that in the context of Brexit and our trade with the remaining EU 27 member states, the limited live trade in animals that exists for fattening and finishing should continue for the sake of the livelihood of hill farmers everywhere in the UK.