FARMING Minister George Eustice has said consideration was being given to toughening up the power of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.

He said as part of the current review of the adjudicator, he wanted to look at putting what were essentially voluntary codes governing relationships between supermarkets and farmers on a more formal footing.

The Minister was speaking at question-and-answer session organised by Richmond MP Rishi Sunak held at Wensleydale Rugby Club, Leyburn, last Thursday.

About 100 farmers gathered in the clubhouse to fire questions at the minister about a range of issues including Brexit, the Rural Payments Agency, trade relationships with countries outside the EU, the dairy crisis and animal welfare.

Answering a question from Stephen Wyrill, of Catterick, who is national chairman of the Tenant Farmers Association, Mr Eustice said the supply chain wasn’t working as it should.

He said: “I’m interested in looking at whether we could, to get fairness in the supply chain, look at some of the elements in the voluntary codes we have now and put them on a more formal footing so that we can improve price transparency and the way the market works.

“It is a delicate area because we don’t want to undermine the market – I do think markets work – but at the moment they are often quite abusive because the lack of transparency means farmers are often taken for a ride.”

Many present expressed fears about the Government’s attitude to the use of glyphosate weedkiller on crops and the minister was unequivocal in his reply.

“The UK has always had the view that the evidence is clear that it is safe to use. We have always argued that and we have always resisted political pressure.

“I get tens of thousands of emails on this but we follow the evidence, we follow the science and the science says it is safe.

He said the issue had been clouded last year by a UN report, which said it was probably carcinogenic but the EU had commissioned a German-led study that ruled it was safe. The German Government had then voted to ban it under political pressure from the Green party, which theatened to collapse the ruling coalition.

“It’s an example of the politics of the EU getting in the way of an evidence-based decision. But once we are out of the EU, we can make our own rules.”

On trading with the rest of the world, Mr Eustice said the aim was a free trade deal with Europe, which was essential for British lamb producers. The threat from New Zealand lamb was overstated he said.

Currently, the amount of tariff-free New Zealand imported to the UK was 25 per cent below its quota ceiling because New Zealand was finding it could sell it more profitably elsewhere.

Even if there was no quota on imports he did not think the UK market would be flooded with foreign lamb.

He said: “We mustn’t talk ourselves down and assume that we cannot compete with New Zealand. Our lamb is a different type of product, it is a premium product, it has better flavour and it commands a premium in the market.”

Responding to a question from Mr Sunak about preserving high animal welfare standards, Mr Eustice said that it was a commitment in the Conservative Party manifesto in 2015.

He added: “I am serious about delivering on it because I do think it is important that we don’t expose our producers because of their higher standards.”

He said there were a number of ways of doing trade deals with countries with different standards. For example, the UK could agree to take some beef from the US but only if it was pasture-fed, not treated with hormones and generally produced to the same welfare standard as the UK.