Sustain’s response to the Trade and Agriculture Commission call for evidence

 

Sustain’s response to the Trade and Agriculture Commission call for evidence.

Here are some of the key points made in our response:

• Government must use tariff and non-tariff measures to restrict the importation of agri-food goods produced to lower standards then our domestic ones.
• Government needs to widen the membership of the TAC to include experts on environment, animal welfare, consumer demands, and public health.
• We call for trade policy to be based on delivering sustainability goals, climate and biodiversity targets, and fair trading.
• We provided examples of high standards trade with developing nations which has been a benefit for all parties involved.
• Trade policy development should be more transparent than it currently is and Parliament should have proper scrutiny mechanisms which include a meaningful vote on trade deals before they are ratified.

You can read our full response here.

You can also read a transcript of a BBC interview with Vicki Hird, Sustain's head of sustainable farm policy, here in which she warns that new government concessions on the Trade and Agriculture Commission are too weak to give MPs a real say over future trade deals and won't save food standards.