MPs have yet again voted against amendments made to the UK Trade Bill by the House of Lords which would have provided greater scrutiny in protecting domestic food standards.
An amendment to require a final yes or no vote on any future agricultural trade deals was defeated by 353 votes to 277 in the House of Commons. It will now return to the House of Lords in February for the parliamentary process known as ‘ping pong’ to continue.
MPs also voted down an amendment which would have added public health onto the list of responsibilities of the Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC).
These attempts made by the House of Lords to protect domestic food standards follow on from the defeated amendments to the UK Agriculture Bill which would have protected UK consumers and producers from food imports produced to lower environmental, animal health and welfare and social standards.
Despite placing the TAC on a legal footing for the next three years in order to scrutinise post-Brexit trade deals, it only has the power to advise the Government without any formal recognition that the advice has been taken into account.
The Conservative Government Manifesto promised that “in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards”, yet the Government has repeatedly defeated amendments which would have ensured just that, and as it stands Ministers could simply sign off any trade deals that don’t meet UK food standards.