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Brexit deal provides certainty, Gove to tell farmers Farmers warned of Brexit no-deal 'turbulence'
(about 2 hours later)
Theresa May's Brexit deal gives farmers certainty about the future, Environment Secretary Michael Gove will say. Farmers and food producers face "considerable turbulence" if the UK leaves the EU with no deal, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said.
He will tell the Oxford Farming Conference the PM's agreement, to be voted on by MPs later this month, will ensure a smooth transition period for agriculture after the UK leaves the EU. He told the Oxford Farming Conference it was a "grim and inescapable fact" there would be tariffs on exports and new sanitary and other border checks.
The National Farmers Union said leaving the EU without a deal in March would be "catastrophic" for the industry. While "not perfect", he said Theresa May's Brexit deal would protect market access and provide economic certainty.
But it said more clarity was needed on protecting food standards after Brexit. The National Farmers Union called for a new law to protect food standards.
And campaigners are calling on Mr Gove to set up an independent regulator to ensure minimum standards to protect water, soil, wildlife and animal welfare are maintained. And environmental campaigners said Mr Gove should set up an independent regulator to ensure that minimum standards to protect water, soil, wildlife and animal welfare are maintained.
The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March, with MPs due to vote in the Commons in mid-January on the prime minister's withdrawal bill.The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on 29 March, with MPs due to vote in the Commons in mid-January on the prime minister's withdrawal bill.
Urging MPs to support the prime minister's deal, Mr Gove will acknowledge it "isn't perfect". Urging MPs to support the PM's deal, Mr Gove said it would ensure the UK left the Common Agricultural Policy but, at the same time, provide a smooth transition period for agriculture and guarantee continuous tariff-free and quota-free access to EU markets.
But he will highlight the fact that it ensures that farmers' current access to the EU is unaffected during the 21-month transition period that will take effect if the deal is approved. From 2021, he said, the UK would be able to "largely diverge from EU regulation", enabling it to pursue its land management priorities and invest in technology which the EU has "turned its back on".
Mr Gove will also say he believes the deal will allow UK exporters to maintain continuous tariff-free and quota-free access to EU markets. "All of these are real gains that our departure from the EU can bring, but these real gains risk being undermined if we leave the EU without a deal," he said.
He will add: "It allows us largely to diverge from EU regulation after the transition, to leave the Common Agricultural Policy and end all mandatory payments to the EU". Mr Gove, a leading figure in the 2016 Leave campaign, rejected suggestions that warnings about the economic impact of a no-deal exit were being over-stated and another example of "Project Fear".
In his speech, the environment secretary will also pledge investment in robotics, artificial intelligence and other innovation, to boost yields. "No-one can be blithe or blase about the real impact on food producers in this country of leaving without a deal," he said.
He will promise to "continue to demonstrate the case for, and put in place the policies that underpin, long-term investment in British agriculture and the rural economy". It was a "grim and inescapable fact", he said, that beef and lamb exports could face export tariffs of at least 40% if the UK defaulted to World Trade Organization rules, while standard tariffs of 11% could be levied on a host of agricultural products.
He will say: "A week can be a long time in politics, but farming requires the patience and foresight to see beyond the immediate and scan the far horizon. "The combination of significant tariffs, where none exist now, friction and checks at the border, where none exist now, and the requirements to re-route or pay more for transport when current arrangements are frictionless, will all add to costs for producers," he said.
"It is a quintessentially long-term business, one that benefits from as much certainty as possible about the future."
The government has guaranteed to pay subsidies to farmers at current EU levels until 2022.The government has guaranteed to pay subsidies to farmers at current EU levels until 2022.
After that there will be a "transitional period" in England, with an increasing link between funds and maintaining "public goods", such as access to the countryside and planting meadows.After that there will be a "transitional period" in England, with an increasing link between funds and maintaining "public goods", such as access to the countryside and planting meadows.
Mr Gove said these commitments offered farmers greater certainty than their EU competitors.
But former minister Guto Bebb, who backs another Brexit referendum, said the proposed deal would leave "all the big questions unanswered".
"There is no kind of fantasy Brexit deal that can meet all the promises made to farmers or the rural economy," he said.
Mr Gove has insisted maintaining environmental and animal welfare standards is a critical element in farming sustainability and the UK "must not barter them away in a short-term trade off".
Food standardsFood standards
The National Farmers Union has long highlighted fears about the potential disruption of Brexit, and delays at borders if a deal is not reached. The National Farmers Union is calling for "more than warm words" on the issue, with specific legislation to ensure the same standards are applied to imported food as home-grown produce.
It is also calling for legislation to ensure the same standards are applied to imported food as home-grown produce, after Brexit. "We have always said a no-deal would be catastrophic for our industry," the NFU's president Minette Batters said.
"We have always said a no deal would be catastrophic for our industry," the NFU's president Minette Batters said. "We absolutely need an orderly departure from the EU and that's primarily because a lot of our input, 90% of our animal medicines and vaccines, chemicals and fertilisers, are produced in the EU.
"We absolutely need an orderly departure from the EU and that's primarily because a lot of our input, 90% of our animal medicines and vaccines, chemicals and fertilizers are produced in the EU.
"We don't make those kind of things in the UK any more.""We don't make those kind of things in the UK any more."
The Nature Friendly Farming Network is warning that long-term food security will be at risk unless "ambitious" guidelines for the industry are set out in the Agriculture Bill, which outlines the policy for the industry after Brexit.The Nature Friendly Farming Network is warning that long-term food security will be at risk unless "ambitious" guidelines for the industry are set out in the Agriculture Bill, which outlines the policy for the industry after Brexit.
"We can only guarantee long term food security by protecting and managing the natural assets which enable food production," said its chairman Martin Lines. "We can only guarantee long-term food security by protecting and managing the natural assets which enable food production," said its chairman Martin Lines.
"If the government does not amend the Bill to include minimum standards - and put a stop to the environmental degradation caused by intensive farming - British farmers will be in danger of losing their livelihoods.""If the government does not amend the Bill to include minimum standards - and put a stop to the environmental degradation caused by intensive farming - British farmers will be in danger of losing their livelihoods."