Trade and Agriculture Commission given statutory footing

The UK Government has announced that they will place the Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC) on full statutory footing. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) warmly welcomes this move and sincerely hopes this will help give farmers a louder voice in the development of UK trade policy.

The BEIC campaigned long and hard for the Government to take into account the concerns of our members around the potential loss or reduction of import tariffs on eggs and egg products produced in countries with low-or-no animal welfare standards or environmental protections. Even though we were positive about the creation of the TAC, we regretted the fact that the body was only advisory, and continued to press legislators to put the TAC on an official legal footing.  

We hope this move by the Government will help give farmers and consumers the voice they need, now that this body will produce a report on each new trade agreement, followed by a 21-day scrutiny process. The independent advice from TAC will help ensure that our world beating food standards are not undermined and our farmers undercut.

The BEIC will be assisting the TAC through a number of working groups, ensuring that the UK’S greatest agricultural success story, the British egg industry, is not undermined.

Mark Williams, Chief Executive of the BEIC said “We have been saying for many months that the Trade and Agriculture Commission cannot be a paper tiger, it must have teeth, and it must be taken seriously if the Government is serious about honouring its commitment to uphold our standards in future trade deals.”