Buried in the accompanying notes to the King’s Speech is a section on the new Product Safety and Metrology Bill which, if extended to food products and implemented pragmatically, could be good for the meat industry.
This is perhaps the strongest signal yet that the new Government is open to taking a pragmatic approach to reducing Brexit trade barriers that have cost British companies millions in needless extra costs and bureaucracy, and brought zero benefit to companies and consumers alike.
The headline part is that the bill “will enable us [government] to make the sovereign choice to mirror or diverge from updated EU rules.” It goes on to say that “this bill gives the Government specific powers to make changes to GB legislation to manage divergence and take a UK-wide approach, where it is in our interests to do so.”
The bill will give ministers a mechanism to update the law “to recognise new or updated EU product regulations…where appropriate to prevent additional costs for businesses and provide regulatory stability.” That’s the kind of ‘voluntary alignment’ for which BMPA has been advocating since we left the EU.
Though there is clearly a long way to go, we’d encourage you to read the short section from page 37 of the briefing notes and allow yourself a moment of hopeful optimism.
We are the UKs largest trade body for the meat industry and provide expert advice on trade issues, bespoke technical advice and access to government policy makers
We are proud to count businesses of all sizes and specialties as members. They range from small, family run abattoirs serving local customers to the largest meat processing companies responsible for supplying some of our best-loved brands to shops and supermarkets.
We are further strengthened by our associate Members who work in industries that support and supply our meat processing companies.
We are the voice of the British meat industry.
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