“The recent event in Parliament was a valuable and important networking opportunity to hear directly from farmers, growers and animal welfare organisations about the mounting pressures facing our agri-food sector,” explained the MP.

Ms Lockhart said: “It is clear that while British farmers operate under some of the highest welfare and environmental standards in the world, they are increasingly at risk of being significantly undercut by inferior imports produced to standards that would be deemed unacceptable, and virtually illegal, in the UK.

“The UK imports around 40% of the food it consumes. The Government must ensure that imported food products meet equivalent UK standards. Consumers want fully traceable, high quality food, not hormone treated beef or chlorine washed chicken.

“I fully support industry calls for core production standards on agri-food imports. It is only fair that food entering the UK market meets the same requirements demanded of our own farmers - particularly in areas such as animal welfare, environmental protection and production practices.”

Carla Lockhart MP added: “Farmers across Upper Bann and throughout Northern Ireland are already dealing with rising costs and uncertainty due to range of factors outside their control.

“Allowing lower-standard imports to compete on an uneven playing field threatens not only their livelihoods, but also the long-term sustainability and resilience of our national food supply.

“The Labour Government claims to want to protect farmers in future trade deals, however, its track record on pro-farming policies leaves a lot to be desired.

“Introducing statutory core standards would be a practical and necessary step to ensure fairness, maintain public confidence, and safeguard the future of UK agriculture.”



Concluding, the DUP’s Agriculture spokesperson, said she would continue to engage with ministers to ensure that the concerns raised by farmers and campaign groups are reflected in future trade and agricultural policy.”