Extra cash for higher welfare levels sought
Extra cash for higher welfare levels sought
SPECIFIC payments to UK farmers, to compensate them for their higher animal welfare standards, are being examined by MAFF.
Addressing the Agra-Europe Outlook 2000 conference in London yesterday (Mar 9), farm minister, Nick Brown, said he wanted to use the rural development package to help counter the effects of cheaper imports from countrys with lower standards.
"I know how strongly the British public values animal welfare," he said. "One way forward would be specific, proportionate green box payments, to compensate farmers for the extra costs of high animal welfare."
Mr Brown went on to identify three major challenges for the farming industry:
• To reconcile the trend towards globalisation with the preservation of family farming.
• To regain public confidence in the regulatory framework dealing with new developments such as biotechnology.
• To achieve a better understanding among farmers and the general public of the benefits of free trade.