Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fears over cheap food imports top the bill for NFUS

NFU Scotland policy director Jonnie Hall.
NFU Scotland policy director Jonnie Hall.

Fears over competition from cheap food imports dominate the Scottish farming industry’s concerns over today’s third reading of the UK Agriculture Bill at Westminster.

As producers here await the Scottish Government’s proposals for a new agricultural policy, attention is firmly focused on the implications for the whole country from the UK’s bill, which does not explicitly rule out the importation of food produced to lower safety, environmental, or animal welfare standards.

The Scottish farmers’ union (NFUS) policy director Jonnie Hall warned the legislation which is currently proposed would offer little protection to domestic producers in the negotiation of new free trade agreements with the EU and other partners.

He said: “NFUS has joined with the other UK farming unions to pressure the government to establish, as soon as possible, an independently-constituted Trade and Standards Commission which would provide a roadmap for the government to meet its commitment to protect the UK’s high standards of production in future trade policy.

“We have also lobbied strongly for provisions within the UK Agriculture Bill to require all food imported into the UK to be produced to at least equivalent food production standards as those required of producers in the UK.”

The landowners organisation, Scottish Land and Estates (SLE), has similar concerns, and has also called for clarity in the bill on the potential for financial constraints for Scottish farm policy.

SLE’s policy adviser, Eleanor Kay, said: “While the UK Government is ultimately the signatory to World Trade Organisation clauses, policy choices in Scotland could be constrained by decisions taken by a UK secretary of state.

“The issue surrounding WTO agreement on agriculture is clearly one which needs resolving, and we would like to see greater transparency on the consultation process between the secretary of state and devolved authorities to ensure that decisions are not forced upon them without due consideration of their impact.”