Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on (a) the poultry meat sector and (b) the cost of British poultry meat products in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

It is in everyone’s interests to secure a good deal with the EU and that is exactly what we are committed to doing. The Government recognises the concerns of stakeholders and is determined to get the best deal for the UK in our negotiations on leaving the EU, including for our world-leading poultry sector.

Whilst preparing for all outcomes, as any responsible Government would, we are also preparing for the possibility of ‘no deal’. Extensive work to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario is under way to ensure the country continues to operate as smoothly as possible from the day we leave.

We are in close contact with the poultry sector to understand and anticipate the effects on the sector of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. Significant work is already underway to ensure that UK exporters can maintain access to EU markets after March 2019. We are conducting rigorous analysis of the full range of UK-EU trade scenarios on UK agriculture (including the poultry sector) as part of our planning.