Defra warned off climate-damaging trade deal for Mexican beef

Securing a free-trade deal with Mexico will expose British beef producers to unfair competition and have a detrimental impact on carbon emissions, the Climate Change Committee has warned.

The comments come in a letter from committee chairman Lord Deben – himself a former agriculture minister – to current Defra farming minister Mark Spencer, following comments he made at the recent NFU conference in Birmingham.

Negotiations for a revised free-trade deal with Mexico have been under way since last May and, in answer to questions from the media, Mr Spencer confirmed it would likely include imports of beef and other meat, as well as dairy exports from the UK.

See also: Australian trade deal – opportunities and threats to UK farmers

“We have to be fair to everyone,” he said. “We can’t say we will sell milk to you, but we won’t buy your beef.”

But the remarks have been seized upon by Lord Deben.

“The Climate Change Committee has made it quite clear that we cannot ask UK farmers to meet the high standards our carbon budgets require while importing food from nations that produce meat with higher emissions,” he wrote.

“This is a sensitive issue all over the UK, but it is particularly crucial for Northern Ireland, whose economy is so dependent on meat production.”

While UK farming was expected to play its part to meet international climate change obligations, “that must not be compromised by a decision to allow the importation of meat with a higher carbon footprint than our own,” said Lord Deben.

In response, a government spokesperson said: “The UK is a global leader in environmental protection and animal welfare and we will never sign a trade deal that compromises on these standards.”