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So, the Ag Bill has officially become law, after three long years. Here's a little tweet thread to take you down memory lane on some of the big battles https://www.fginsight.com/news/agriculture-bill-officially-becomes-law-after-receiving-royal-assent-114375
Anyone remember this story, about Government's refusal to reward farmers for improving their soils? https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/anger-over-government-refusal-to-pay-farmers-to-improve-soil-health-post-brexit-83017
It caused a bit of a stir, and Ministers eventually agreed to namecheck soil on the face of the Bill, allowing farmers to be paid for protecting and improving soil health under ELMs.
Then there was the multi-annual budgets tussle. Industry argued they were needed to give farmers the ability to plan long-term, but Gove refused to go there, saying 'no Parliament can bind its successor' (only to then go on & push for a 5-yr NHS budget) https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/gove-refuses-to-commit-to-multi-annual-agriculture-budget-71572
The year after, then-Farming Minister Robert Goodwill seemed to have reversed this position. And sure enough, multi-annual budgets were included in the 2020 version of the Ag Bill https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/farming-minister-robert-goodwill-pushes-for-multi-annual-agriculture-budget-85880
Then there was the food security issue. When the Health & Harmony consultation which preceded the Bill was first published, farm groups warned it didn't say enough about food https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/put-food-top-of-the-agenda-nfu-tells-defra-in-consultation-response-60092
Those concerns remained when the legislation itself was published, and the food security issue was kicked into high gear after the pandemic, with growing calls food security audits to take place more often than every 5 years https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/welsh-parliament-committee-calls-for-stronger-food-security-provisions-in-uk-ag-bill-108871
Government did listen, and agreed the reviews will now take place every three years instead. And Farming Minister Victoria Prentis has said the findings of those audits will inform future policy https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/food-security-reviews-will-inform-government-policy-says-farming-minister--109443
Then there was the issue of supply chain unfairness. The original legislation only allowed Govt to regulate contracts between farmers & first purchasers such as processors and abattoirs, which some industry bodies thought didn't go far enough https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/mixed-reaction-to-new-ag-bill-powers-to-tackle-supply-chain-unfairness-70511
The Govt did move on this issue too, meaning the Act will cover all sellers of agricultural produce https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/strengthened-powers-to-tackle-supply-chain-unfairness-in-new-agriculture-bill-100872
Where Ministers did not budge, though, was on banning low standard imports. In fact, Farming Minister Victoria Prentis said doing so would undermine the UK's food security https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/banning-low-standard-imports-risks-undermining-food-security-says-minister-106609
That position hasn't changed, and MPs repeatedly voted down amendments which would have introduced a low-standard import ban (though there are some VERY different views in the Tory Party on this) https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/defeat-of-ag-bill-amendment-to-ban-low-standard-imports-highlights-tory-divisions-113428
In the end, the Govt made two key concessions on standards. First, establishing a non-statutory Trade & Agriculture Commission, which was widely criticised for being too weak & lacking expertise https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/government-announces-membership-of-trade-and-agriculture-commission--110312
Then, agreeing to put the TAC on a statutory footing, after Ministers repeatedly said they wouldn't https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/huge-step-forward-on-standards-as-government-u-turns-on-tac-powers-114086
Basically, we've come a long way since 2017. But still a long way to go, w/ no solid info on how transition from BPS to ELMs will be managed, what ELMs payments will be, what our trading relationships will be w/ EU & ROW & how farmers can access labour under new immigration rules
Watch this space.
