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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for International Trade and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on the establishment of a commission to ensure that British food standards are not lowered in the context of future free trade agreements struck after 31 December 2020.

Our manifesto is clear that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.

We are already engaging with the agricultural sector as part of our trade discussions. The Secretary of State regularly discusses a wide range of issues with Cabinet colleagues, and the Government will continue to work closely with the National Farmers' Union and other relevant stakeholders across the food chain to understand the key concerns about the impact of new trade deals. The Government has in place a range of stakeholder groups to feed into our policy development on trade. These include the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, the Agri-Food Expert Trade Advisory Group which are subject to regular review, and the various engagement groups such as the Arable Group, Livestock Group and Food and Drink Panel.