MPs have branded the government’s failure to step in over the closure of one of Britain’s biggest bioethanol plants “disappointing”, in a report that backs NFU calls for urgent support for domestic production.
The Commons Business and Trade Committee said ministers should have acted to prevent the collapse of the Vivergo facility near Hull, which shut after the UK granted the US access to 1.4 billion litres of the domestic market under a recent trade deal.
The committee warned that the loss of Vivergo, once one of Europe’s largest bioethanol producers and a key buyer of wheat produced in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, has reduced UK capacity to manufacture renewable fuel and damaged industries that relied on its valuable by-products.
Alongside bioethanol, the plant produced carbon dioxide for food and drink processing and animal feed for the livestock sector.
Farm leaders argue that the closure represents more than a regional economic blow, undermining the resilience of national supply chains.
With imports now filling the gap, concerns are mounting over energy security, environmental commitments, and support for British farmers who previously supplied the plant.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said he “wholly agreed” with the committee’s call for measures to safeguard domestic bioethanol production.
He warned that agriculture had already borne the brunt of trade concessions and could not be expected to give more.
“We have already done our bit, paying with a tariff imbalance in the reciprocal beef deal and the undermining of our ethanol markets to reduce tariffs on cars, aluminium and steel,” Bradshaw said. “UK agriculture has nothing more to give without risking its own future.”
The NFU has consistently argued that while further negotiations on tariffs may be necessary, agriculture should be excluded from any future compromises.
The committee’s report also recommended that substantial trade commitments made by the government be subject to parliamentary scrutiny, a move welcomed by the union.
Farming groups have long pressed for greater transparency and accountability in trade policymaking, warning that unchecked deals risk undermining the industries that underpin food security and rural economies.
