New EFRA Committee seeks to set agenda for next five years
The newly appointed Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has launched an online survey (closes 25 November) that asks stakeholders which issues they think the Committee should prioritise in 2025 and highlight any long term or emerging issues that they think the Committee should scrutinise over the next five years.
From a trade perspective, we would like the EFRA Committee to focus on how best to implement a comprehensive veterinary agreement with the European Union to eliminate the damaging extra costs and needless barriers to trade that are damaging UK companies and pushing up the price of food for consumers.
While the new European Deforestation Regulation has been pushed back to next year, we also need Defra to acknowledge they have a degree of responsibility in the process and cannot simply leave industry to deal with the EU alone.
We are also keen to ensure that any government regulation, funding, subsidies and messaging that is designed to achieve net-zero targets is rooted in sound scientific evidence. It must focus not just on a carbon tally, but have a more rounded approach that encompasses the potential negative impacts of policy on the UK’s food security, economic performance and public health.