Addressing media at the IFA headquarters, Minister Heydon said: “We now have proposals for some of the strictest safeguards ever to be part of a trade deal, should it come to pass.” He said commitments have been made to increase audits ‘irrespective of whether this deal comes in or not’. He added: “Those food safety standards are non-negotiable and there is a commitment to increase by 50 per cent the audits in third countries, and a 33 per cent increase at border control points.” He later pledged to ensure that the commitments that have been made by the Commission in terms of stepping up checks and audits are honoured, and if necessary, that the agreed safeguards are rigorously enforced.
“It is the mantra that Europe’s food safety standards are non-negotiable. We have to reassure farmers and consumers that that is indeed the case,” he said.
Regarding funding, he acknowledged the early access to €45bn proposed by EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, last week. “The proposal made last week was considered and is part of the mix; €45bn is not an insignificant amount of money but it was coming from money that would have been there in the mid-term review. So the mechanics of how that would become available to farmers and what the total pot would be [of the Common Agricultural Policy budget] over the seven-year period is still up for discussion and will be a key part of our CAP negotiations this year.”
The EU president’s €45bn is two-thirds of the amount already set aside for the mid-term review of the 2028-2034 EU budget and is in addition to €6.3bn reserve already planned to address potential market disruptions.