UK trade – an overview
The UK is at a turning point in its international trading relationships, and this poses both risks and opportunities for animal welfare.
On this page you can find out the latest situation, what is at stake, and what Compassion's campaigners and supporters are doing to help protect farm animal welfare in new UK Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Why is trade an issue now?
As a result of the UK leaving the European Union (EU), the country is now able to set its own trade policy for the first time in almost 50 years. Previously these policies were determined at EU-level, although the UK was involved in decision-making, alongside other Member States.
Setting trade policy includes determining rules on which food products can be imported. And, whilst the UK's farming standards could certainly be improved, its legal baselines are higher than most other countries.
What are the choices facing the UK?
Since leaving the EU, the UK has two options:
- HM Goverment could choose to require certain products to meet UK legal standards in order for them to be imported. This would prevent UK farmers from being undercut, and leave open the possibility of further improving domestic animal welfare legislation.
- Alternatively, the UK could opt to lower the bar for imported products, increasing pressure to lower domestic standards, and potentially taking the country into a 'race to the bottom', where it seeks to compete only on price rather than food quality and animal welfare.
The choice the Government makes could have a more significant impact on the UK's standards of animal welfare, food safety and environmental protection than its decisions in any other single policy area. And the ramifications could be felt for decades to come.
The Government's approach will help determine the food UK citizens eat; affect the livelihoods of higher welfare farmers within the UK; and, crucially, influence the wellbeing of animals throughout the UK and beyond.
Is Northern Ireland a Special Case?
Yes. The Northern Ireland Protocol means that Northern Ireland remains subject to European Union trading rules – particularly in terms of animals and food products – and therefore outside any other arrangements that are made for Britain. This means Northern Irish consumers, farmers and animals will be affected by future EU decisions on animal welfare, but may be less impacted by the risks and opportunities of new UK FTAs – although details of how this will work remain to be clarified.
What is the UK Government's position?
The UK Government has repeatedly said the country will not see its animal welfare standards diluted on departure from the EU. Indeed, when Michael Gove was Defra Secretary of State, he committed to the UK being a global leader on animal welfare. And the 2019 Conservative Manifesto stated: "In all our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards."
These commitments were most welcome. However, as things stand, the Government's actions on trade have done more to undermine than support this pledge to uphold UK standards.
Tariffs
The Government has proposed using 'dual tariffs' as a means of protecting animal welfare and environmental standards. Tariffs are effectively taxes that are placed on goods entering a market. The Government's proposal would involve charging higher import tariffs for products that don't meet UK standards, and a lower rate for those that do.
However, tariffs should be one of a host of mechanisms used to protect standards, not the only one. Not least because they are a starting point, rather than an end point, for any trade negotiations. Once the principle has been accepted that low welfare, low quality food can be imported, even with a high tariff, there will be steady pressure to reduce the tariff over time.
The solution to this situation would be legislation that prevents certain products being imported under the terms of any FTA – but the UK Government has resisted legal measures at every turn.
Legislation
A number of Bills with a direct impact upon UK farming and animal welfare have recently passed through Parliament. These offered the Government an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to protecting UK standards in trade deals. However, they have repeatedly blocked attempts to ensure that the Agriculture Bill and the Trade Bill contain sufficient protection for the UK's higher welfare farmers or its animals.
The Agriculture Bill...
Will replace the EU's area-based farming subsidy scheme (the Common Agricultural Policy) with payments for farmers who deliver on issues such as animal welfare and the environment – a shift in priorities welcomed by Compassion.
However, there is a major risk that the benefits of this new approach will be entirely undermined by future trade deals because, due to Government resistance, the same Bill does not require food imports to meet UK legal standards.
Under pressure from campaigners, including Compassion, the Government did introduce an amendment to the Bill that offers Parliament a modest increase in its scrutiny of trade agreements. This requires the Government to report on whether, or to what extent, a new FTA undermines UK animal welfare, food and environmental standards.
But, whilst this is a step in the right direction, it does not offer the same safeguards as a legal prohibition of imports of products not raised to UK standards. Indeed, it suggests the Government can permit those imports and then merely submit a report to Parliament stating why it has chosen to do so.
The Trade Bill...
Focuses more on rolling over FTAs that the UK is party to because of prior EU membership, and is in the final stages of its progress through Parliament.
This Bill also offers the opportunity to secure protections against lower standard imports. It could potentially ensure Parliament is fully involved in setting out the negotiating position, scrutinising and then ratifying FTAs. But, again, this is being opposed by the Government.
There has, once more, been some progress in terms of scrutiny. In this case, the Government has placed the independent Trade and Agriculture Commission, which will review FTAs, on a statutory footing (to be reviewed every three years). However, whilst this is a welcome step, it appears that the membership of the Committee – particularly in the areas of animal welfare, food and the environment – will remain narrow and be composed predominantly of farming bodies.
Meanwhile, following lobbying by Compassion and other organisations, the House of Lords has twice voted in support of an amendment to the Trade Bill that would require food imports to meet UK standards. However, this amendment was first overturned by the Government in January, and we sadly expect it to again be defeated when the Bill returns to the House of Commons on 9th February.
In sum, despite pledging to protect UK animal welfare standards in trade deals, the Government has repeatedly refused to introduce legal protection for animals, farmers and consumers against lower standard imports, and resisted thorough, meaningful scrutiny of FTAs.