NFUS WELCOMES FOOD SECURITY PAPER AS BASIS FOR ACTION

NFU Scotland has welcomed the UK Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee’s report, ‘Securing Food Supplies up to 2050: the Challenges Faced by the UK,’ as a comprehensive and balanced inquiry into Britain’s preparedness for domestic and international pressures on food supply.

The Committee concludes that ‘a healthy domestic agriculture is an essential component of a secure food system in the UK’ but that the UK should not aim to be self-sufficient, and aim instead to increase its production of certain commodities in a sustainable fashion. EFRA Committee members also resolved that while there should not be a return to direct production subsidies under the CAP, the focus of the CAP post-2013 should be on sustainable food production, rather than land management itself.

The Committee also recommends that Defra strike a balance between production and environmental considerations, and commission research into the potential of GM technology. The Department is also recommended to report ‘how it plans to address the perceived weaknesses in its understanding of the food supply chain’ and determine which agricultural sectors are profitable enough to allow them to reinvest.

Reacting to the Report, NFU Scotland’s Chief Executive, James Withers said:

“This is a very welcome report, which draws shrewd conclusions and makes equally sensible recommendations, many of which, however, the industry has been soliciting for a long time. The fact that the Committee states that it is ‘encouraged by the signs that Defra has begun to recognise the importance of UK production…in securing food supplies’ acknowledges how little recognition food producers were being given by their own ministry.

“The Committee’s recognition of a healthy domestic agricultural industry as an essential component of a secure food system in the UK will be greeted warmly by farmers, as will its assertion that Defra should do more work to determine which are the most sustainable methods of production to enable consumers to make informed decisions about what they buy.

“The proposal that more money be spent on research into increasing production sustainability and the potential for GM is particularly good. The industry has been crying out for a proper debate on the issue of biotechnology for a long time and it is imperative that we make use of Scotland’s and the UK’s excellent research facilities and expertise to inform this debate.

“Finally, the Committee’s statement that food must be affordable for consumers but that prices must also make it worthwhile to produce it in the first place, along with their recommendation that Defra address ‘perceived’ weaknesses in the supply chain is good news as well.

“For many sectors in Scotland, however, the consequences of many of the issues the report highlights have already been felt for some time. Sheep, beef and dairy production has contracted significantly in the past ten years, largely as a consequence of poor returns, but also because of onerous, unnecessary and costly regulation. For this reason, the Committee’s call to Defra to press the EU to agree that future Regulations be approved only after a full evidence-based evaluation of the proposals (such as did not happen with the recently agreed rules on pesticides) is welcome.

“Now that the report has been published, we await the UK Government and Defra’s reactions with interest. The Committee proposes to hold a public discussion to respond to the report and the Government’s reply and also to inform future inquiries on the subject and NFU Scotland will certainly take part in this.