04.02.26
Last week, The Andersons Centre published a report commissioned by CropLife UK on the impact on UK crop production if Great Britain (GB) aligns with European Union (EU) rules and decisions on plant protection products (PPPs) as part of the UK-EU Reset.
Key findings from the report include:
- Immediate financial Impact: A potential 3-6% reduction in agricultural Gross Value Added (GVA) in the first year alone.
- Farm income loss: This translates to a £500-£810 million loss in total income from farming.
- Supply chain disruption: Significant drops in yields for staples like wheat (9-16%), potatoes (4-6%), and apples (3-7%).
The report highlights the scale of the challenge facing Britain’s agriculture sector if it loses access to vital and innovative PPPs through “cliff-edge” regulatory alignment with the EU, which would see products that are currently being used safely and legally in the UK completely removed from the market. CropLife UK is clear that these impacts are driven by regulatory timing and process, not by any lowering of safety standards.
Precision breeding: A vital tool in the toolbox
In this context, the opportunity to leverage precision breeding cannot be understated. Precision breeding offers a practical tool to maintain and indeed enhance yields, manage crop diseases and pest pressures, and is a complementary tool for British growers.
At a time when growers are faced with a multitude of challenges – from food security and climate change, to competition and profitability – it is vital that growers have access to every tool in the toolbox to farm sustainably and meet UK and global food needs. Innovation is not optional, but essential for overcoming these challenges.
Encouraging innovation
To ensure GB agriculture remains globally competitive, the UK must strive to take a pro-innovation approach to regulation. As the government pursues dynamic alignment with the EU, it is vital that we do not abandon the opportunities afforded by our own scientific strengths, and that the Government seeks to protect our role in making regulatory decisions that impact our agricultural industry.
Crucially, as the EU works towards introducing its own legislation on precision bred products, the Government must ensure that any agreed differences between precision breeding regimes in GB and the EU do not become barriers to future trade. Our farmers need a choice of crops suited to the GB’s specific climatic and agronomic conditions, and they need timely access to the technology required to develop them.
A call for managed alignment
The Andersons report makes a compelling case for “managed alignment” — a process where existing GB regulatory decisions are respected until new decisions can be reviewed under a future Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement. This approach would mitigate the immediate economic shock to the sector, and ensure GB retains access to innovative products already being used safely by growers.
The abc welcomes the Andersons report for detailing out the scale of the challenge clearly, reinforcing the case for a balanced approach — managing regulatory change carefully, while accelerating the need for innovation such as precision breeding to support food security, productivity and environmental outcomes together.
