Agricultural Products: Coronavirus

(asked on 16th March 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) agricultural trades unions and (b) his counterparts in the Welsh Government on the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on agricultural exports.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 19th March 2020

The Government fully supports Welsh farmers and recognises the importance of Welsh agricultural businesses to the UK economy.

We are actively monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 and related control measures with significant input from industry stakeholders.

The Chancellor has announced an initial £330 billion will be made available to support UK businesses. He also set out a package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19.

We acknowledge concerns about the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak and its effect on agricultural exports and are working closely with key stakeholders from across the agri-food sector to help mitigate its impact. The National Farmers’ Union and the Devolved Administrations form part of Defra’s Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG). This forum has and will continue to meet regularly to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the food and farming sectors across the UK, and what actions are needed to support the sector.

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