Committee publication · Correspondence · 17 July 2025

Correspondence from the Chair to the Farmers’ Union of Wales dated 9 June 2025 relating to the 4 June evidence session

From: Welsh Affairs Committee

Inquiry: Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities

Summary

Chair Ruth Jones MP requests written follow-up answers from the Farmers' Union of Wales on topics not covered during their 4 June oral evidence session to the Welsh Affairs Committee's inquiry into Welsh farming. Questions focus on export certification barriers, the UK-EU SPS agreement effectiveness, and potential alignment with EU food standards.

Key findings

  • Committee seeks clarity on whether pre-reset deal export checks and certificates reduced attractiveness of Welsh goods to international markets and contributed to export quantity decline since 2019
  • Committee inquires whether the recent UK-EU SPS agreement has fully removed trade barriers for Welsh exporters and what further negotiation steps should follow
  • Committee asks for Farmers' Union assessment of challenges and opportunities from potential alignment with EU food standards, and which EU rules Welsh farmers might find problematic

Tone

Procedural

Topics

agriculturetradeuk-eu-relationsfood-standards

Key actors

Ruth Jones MP, Gareth Parry, Farmers' Union of Wales, Welsh Affairs Committee

Notable line

Could this have contributed to the decrease in the overall quantity of Welsh export goods since 2019?

Key Quotes

Thank you for giving oral evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee on our inquiry into Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities.
Ruth Jones MP · Opening gratitude for witness testimony
Due to time constraints during the session, we were not able to cover all the topics that we wanted to.
Ruth Jones MP · Justification for written follow-up questions
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Source · parliament.uk record ↗

Correspondence from the Chair to the Farmers’ Union of Wales dated 9 June 2025 relating to the 4 June evidence session | Beyond The Vote | Beyond The Vote