Committee publication · Correspondence · 17 July 2025
Correspondence from the Chair to the Wales Young Farmers Clubs 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
The Welsh Affairs Committee Chair Ruth Jones writes to Wales Young Farmers Clubs following their 4 June oral evidence session on farming challenges and opportunities. The letter requests written responses to follow-up questions on export certification barriers, the UK-EU SPS agreement, and potential alignment with EU food standards, with a deadline of 30 June 2025.
Key findings
- Committee seeks clarification on whether UK-EU reset deal checks and certificates made Welsh exports less attractive to international markets and contributed to export quantity decline since 2019
- Committee asks for Wales Young Farmers Clubs' assessment of the recent UK-EU SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) agreement and whether it has completely removed trade barriers
- Committee inquires about challenges and opportunities of potential alignment with EU food standards for Welsh agri-food exporters and which EU rules farmers may find problematic
Tone
ProceduralTopics
agriculturetradeexport-regulationsuk-eu-relations
Key actors
Ruth Jones MP, Welsh Affairs Committee, Wales Young Farmers Clubs, Dominic Hampson-Smith
Notable line
“… how useful the evidence you gave us was for our inquiry, and how interesting the Committee found the session.”
Key Quotes
“Did the checks and certificates that Welsh exporters needed to obtain, before the UK-EU reset deal, make Welsh goods less attractive to international markets?”
“What is your assessment of the recent SPS agreement the UK has agreed with the EU?”
“What are the challenges and opportunities of the potential alignment with EU food standards for the Welsh agri-food export market?”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗