Keir Starmer’s plans for a Brexit reset could see animal welfare protections sacrificed, the government has been warned. The Prime Minister has expressed his desire to bring the country closer to Europe and is reported to have made securing a veterinary deal with the European Union his top priority in trade, and he aims to reset relations.
Such a deal would reduce the red tape associated with food passing in and out of the EU, but it comes with calls for the UK to adopt laws created in Brussels – something the UK has so far refused to do. Experts and charities fear that doing so would weaken the UK’s strict animal welfare rules, which are believed to be at a higher standard than those of the UK. According to the i Paper, experts have suggested the Government could be forced to reverse its live animal exports ban and drop plans to outlaw the import of foie gras, things considered to be Brexit benefits resulting from the country’s departure from the EU.
The paper also reports the ministers have been lobbied by elements of the farming industry to ensure that animal welfare is not sacrificed in any potential deal.
Exporting live animals, such as cattle, sheep and pigs, for fattening and slaughter is illegal in the UK, with legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government coming into force in January.
Labour has also committed to banning foie gras, which results in ducks and geese being aggressively force-fed and is widely believed to be a cruel practice.
Brexit expert David Henig, UK director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, said: “There may be exemptions to be negotiated, but then the UK would have to decide what to try. At the very least, it is best to prepare for a maximalist EU position.”
Joël Reland, senior researcher at the UK In a Changing Europe, believes that trading animals: “is a massive industry in the EU and so something they might be quite unwilling to compromise on. The EU could say a condition of being in our veterinary area is that animals are allowed to be exported.”
Former Conservative Environment Secretary Steve Barclay, who helped draft much of the post-Brexit legislation in the area, believes that a reversal would be a “backward step.”
He said: “Stopping live animal exports reflects the importance we place as a country on animal welfare. It was a change that was supported across political parties and widely supported by the public.
“Parliament had wanted to make this change sooner but it was frustrated for years by our membership of the EU. It would be a real mistake to allow this out-of-date practice to return.”
Keir Starmer has been urged to highlight animal welfare as one of his so-called red lines in any negotiations.
Peter Stevenson, chief policy adviser at Compassion in World Farming, said: “A lot of people would be appalled at the idea of us having to go back to live animal exports.
“We’d say to the Government that of course if you can get this friction-free trading relationship with the EU, that would clearly have many benefits. But we’ve got to say one of our red lines is we are allowed to keep our ban.
“Ideally red line number two would be that the UK can ban the import of foie gras.”
David Bowles, head of public affairs at the RSPCA, urged ministers to ensure that any agreement does not “inadvertently impact on our high health and welfare standards; or prevent the UK from independently raising its animal welfare standards in the future.”
He added: “This, we hope, could include a future import ban on fur or foie gras – with the production of both already banned in the UK.”
