Farming unions across the UK have called for a cross government agricultural summit to address the perceived slow progress in developing plans for a post-Brexit farm policy.
As powers will be given back to London from Brussels, devolved administrations have urged that they must be considered equal partners in the negotiations.
Senior barristers have already published a series of reports titled The Brexit Papers, amid warnings that navigating Government ‘red-lines’ will not be plain sailing.
The Brexit Papers warn of a potential clash between central government and the devolved regions over who will have overall policy control.
Chair of the Bar Council Brexit Working Group, Hugh Mercer QC said: “The devolved regions may well be in control of their own agriculture policy when we leave the EU, but if regional subsidies diverge from each other there would be considerable distortion in competition that could frustrate international trade deals.”
Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show, the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) President Glyn Roberts said that planning for Brexit has been going on in a 'relatively disjointed fashion'.
He said: “For many months... there has been slow progress on critical issues due to a lack of engagement between the UK and Welsh governments.”
Three major phases
The FUW sees 3 major phases in the UK’s exit from the European Union: the Article 50 process, which has already started and the constitutional issues that need to be resolved.
The union said the second phase of leaving the EU will be when trade relations come to the fore and the third being the long term changes that can then be made only once trade relationships are understood.
“We appear to be focusing all our energy on the latter phases, whilst ignoring the critical constitutional arrangements that need to be established by the UK government and all devolved administrations.
“They need to be working collaboratively to develop a solution,” stressed Mr Roberts.
'Absolutely essential'
This week, the FUW met with the First Minister of Wales and two Secretaries of State from the UK government as well as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths.
Mr Roberts continued: “A cross Government agricultural summit is absolutely essential in order to progress the vital constitutional issues that need to be addressed before powers are repatriated from Brussels to London.
“Whilst there are arguments for powers to be repatriated and held in London, there are also clear options to return them immediately to the devolved nations, within an agricultural trade framework that will not disrupt trade negotiations in any way,” said Mr Roberts.
He added saying that: “We are genuinely encouraged by all we are hearing in our bilateral discussions with government ministers. There is an awful lot of common ground between our aspirations and government statements. We now ask that they come together to address the big domestic political issues as soon as possible.”
'Equal partners'
Defra Secretary Michael Gove has recently been criticised over his appearance at farming shows after apparently snubbing other farm business events to do with Scottish agriculture.
The Scottish government has said the Defra secretary should be taking the concerns of Scotland's agriculture sector seriously.
Scotland's Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: “We have been very clear throughout this process that the devolved administrations must be considered equal partners in the negotiations and we expect genuine engagement in the process.
“It is simply unacceptable to have UK Ministers unilaterally cancelling meetings, which involve four partners at short notice and without consultation.”
“Brexit affects us all, with Scottish agriculture and rural communities particularly reliant on the EU for investment, labour and financial support. I also want to be clear that the UK Government must not give away permanent access to Scottish waters as part of any trade deals.”
