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.

Bid to keep UK’s food standards protected by law

The government insists all imported food would continue to have to meet uk import standards.
The government insists all imported food would continue to have to meet uk import standards.

A fight to ensure post-Brexit food imports will match the UK’s “high” food and environmental standards has been taken up in the House of Lords.

While the government has pledged not to compromise on existing rules as part of future trade deals, opponents have argued it should be written into law.

Peers have said they will seek to change the Agriculture Bill, which sets out new policy as the UK quits the EU-wide Common Agricultural Policy, to guarantee welfare standards are not negotiated away.

It comes after a similar bid by Tory rebels failed when the legislation went through the House of Commons.

Opening the Bill’s second reading debate, Rural Affairs Minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble sought to reassure peers that the government was “alive to the issue of trade standards”.

He referred to a recent letter in which both Environment Secretary George Eustice and International Trade Secretary Liz Truss insisted the government remained “firmly committed to upholding our high environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards outside the EU”.

Confirming all food coming into the country would continue to have to meet existing import requirements, Lord Gardiner said: “That specifically means that the import of chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef, for example, is prohibited.”

Tory peer Baroness McIntosh of Pickering warned of the risk of “inferior food imports not produced to our high standards”.

She argued that existing regulations could be changed by secondary legislation signed off by ministers.

“A mere swipe of the pen … and our standards could be changed overnight,” Lady McIntosh said.

The Bill received an unopposed second reading and now goes for line-by-line scrutiny in committee.