NFU President lists 'frustration with EU regulation and product approvals' as farmers reason for Brexit

Information requirements are a major issue for the agriculture industry
Information requirements are a major issue for the agriculture industry

NFU's President Meurig Raymond has listed 'frustration with European Union regulation and product approvals' as one of the main reasons farmers have voted for the UK to leave the EU.

In a message to members, in British Farmer & Grower Magazine, Mr Raymond wrote: "If there was one message which came over loud and clear in all our farmer meetings it was frustration with European regulation and its handling of product approvals, due to an over-politicised approach and excessive use of the precautionary principle.

"We now have a golden opportunity to ensure our arrangements are in future proportionate and decisions are based on sound science."

Minette Batters, NFU Deputy President has previously said: "We want to be in a position where farmers and growers can focus on the business of producing British food rather than being professional form-fillers."

According to EU agricultural co-operative Copa and Cogeca's confidence survey, farmers’ confidence in the United Kingdom is at its lowest level in 6 years due to over-regulation.

Falling farm gate prices and market price volatility have also contributed to a drop in farmer confidence.

However, the main concern is clearly the burden of regulation. Research suggests that reporting on animal health and farming currently takes 1.7m people hours per year at a cost of £77m.

Evidence shows that information requirements can often overlap or are confusing or over complicated.

This unnecessarily increases costs for business, diverts regulator resource away from tackling real farming issues and makes it harder to share and use the information collected effectively

EU will still be a major trading partner for UK

Regarding agricultural trade deals, Meurig Raymond continued: "We must get the best possible access to markets in the rest of Europe.

"Although we will not be a member of the EU, it will still be our major trading partner for the foreseeable future.

"Currently we benefit from more than 50 trade agreements with countries in the rest of the world.

"We will continue to need these kind of arrangements in future, whether this means negotiating new deals or not.

"A key question we asked the Leave camp, and on which we never received a clear answer, was what kind of access would an independent UK give to imports from the rest of the world?

"Our requirement is that we are not open to imports which are produced to lower standards.

"Leaving the EU gives us the opportunity to build a new British agricultural policy which is adapted to our needs, easy to understand and simple to administer.

"We will be looking for guarantees that the support given to our farmers is equal to that given to farmers in the EU, who will still be our principal competitors."