Leaving the EU: Poultry Producers — House of Commons, 2017-03-13
Topic: Foreign Trade
Charles George Eustice (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and I wanted to come on to some other issues on trade, one of which is China. There are opportunities in relation to what is called the fifth quarter; it never ceases to amaze me that chicken feet are apparently a delicacy in China and can attract a high value there—far higher than in the UK. However, there are real opportunities to create value from parts of the carcase for which there is no market in the UK or, indeed, Europe Another point I would make is that, as the hon. Member for North Antrim pointed out, there has always been quite a worldwide trade in poultry. We consume more white poultry meat than we can produce, so we traditionally import white meat, but we have also exported dark poultry meat, which is in demand in other parts of the world We have set up the Great British Food Unit to break down some of these barriers to get access to markets such as China. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the cost of feed and the importance of making sure that we have open markets so that we can buy competitively priced inputs. Obviously, once we have left the European Union, it will be within our gift to decide our tariffs and the access we give to feed from other parts of the world, but the vast majority of animal feeds coming into Europe already come from other parts of the world, and we would probably not want to do anything that would disrupt that flow because it is crucial to the economics of the sector The final thing I would mention on trade is the US, which is a major producer and exporter. I am aware that there are concerns about the standards of production in the US. It has lower standards of animal welfare and lower standards of food safety, and it allows approaches that are not currently allowed in the European Union, such as chlorine washes. It is important, as we contemplate any future trade deal, that we do not put our industry at an unfair disadvantage, as the hon. Gentleman pointed out, and we will clearly take very earnest account of that as we consider future trade deals Let me turn to the UK-Ireland relationship. I begin by reiterating the reassurances provided by the Government’s White Paper on the UK-Ireland relationship. The UK and Irish economies are deeply integrated, particularly so in the case of food, farming and agriculture. The Irish Republic is the UK’s top destination for poultry meat, with £68 million of exports in 2016. Over 14,000 people regularly commute between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and we recognise that for them the ability to move freely across the border is an essential part of daily life. Therefore, as the Prime Minister stated in her speech in January, we will work to deliver a practical solution that allows the maintenance of the common travel area with the Republic of Ireland, while protecting the integrity of the United Kingdom’s immigration system There are, of course, many specific issues related to the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and we are working across Government and with the devolved Administrations to identify a potential solution to them. That includes looking at precedents in other agreements, and colleagues in the Government are considering the extent to which digital solutions could help to make sure that we have a frictionless border. They are keen to learn from free trade agreements in parts of the world that are not part of a customs union but that are nevertheless able to accommodate quite complex integrated supply chains, to see what lessons we can learn as we develop solutions to this particular challenge The hon. Gentleman mentioned labour, and I recognise that it is an important issue for the poultry industry. Last year, I spoke at the egg and poultry industry conference, where these concerns were very vocally laid at my door. I recognise that, particularly in the last 12 years or so, the sector has become quite dependent on migrant labour. The important thing is this: just because we are leaving the European Union and ending the presumption of the free movement of people, that does not mean that we are pulling up the drawbridge and ending all immigration. In fact, it is incredibly important that we put in place a new type of partnership with the European Union that enables us to control immigration, but that, crucially, allows us to enable some people to come here and work, be that on temporary work permits—that could be for some low-skilled people—or on longer-term permits, for some of the more skilled positions. The crucial thing is that it will be, in effect, in our gift to decide what those future policies would be and what arrangements we put in place. We do recognise that this is an important issue for the poultry industry, and we will take care to ensure that it and other sectors of the farming industry have access to the labour that they need The hon. Member for Strangford mentioned support for the industry. As we design a replacement for the common agricultural policy, we have been clear that we would like to look at the opportunities to promote higher standards of animal welfare and to see how we could incentivise that by rewarding livestock farmers who go above and beyond a regulatory minimum. That could involve some support for the poultry industry to enable it to invest in different approaches to animal husbandry that are better for welfare and might reduce our reliance on antibiotic use, which is another important challenge facing the sector The hon. Member for North Antrim mentioned encouraging new people to enter the industry and trying to inspire young people—the next generation—to get involved. I agree that this is important. We have an ambition as a Government to treble the number of apprenticeships. We have been looking at opportunities to use the apprenticeship levy in other parts of the supply chain, potentially enabling us to get more apprentices on to farms. There are projects such as Bright Crop that send young graduates into schools to encourage teenagers choosing their GCSEs to pick the subjects that might enable them to go into exciting careers in the food and farming sector. This is an important area that we are continuing to develop We have had a very free-ranging debate to end a rather long day here. The hon. Gentleman has made some important points. We do recognise the importance of this vital industry—a competitive industry—and we will ensure, as a Government, that as we design policies for after we leave the European Union, we get them right for our poultry sector Question put and agreed to.