Draft Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 General Committees

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

It is a great pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank the Minister for bringing forward this statutory instrument. I pay tribute to the UK pig industry, which does so much for our economy, food production and food security. I am very proud that under the previous Conservative Government, new powers were introduced in the Agriculture Act 2020 that allowed the introduction of regulations to address unfair trading practices in agricultural sectors.

In March 2024, the House considered the draft Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations, which related to the rules governing the relationship between buyers and sellers operating in the dairy industry. I am pleased to say that the Minister, when he was then shadow Minister, welcomed those regulations. I am happy to say today that we, His Majesty’s most loyal Opposition, are supporting these similar and very important draft regulations for the pig sector.

The backdrop to the crisis that faced the UK pig industry in the years following 2020 was a perfect storm of the pandemic and concomitant labour shortages, leading to animals tragically dammed back on farms, with abattoirs and processors unable to process them. There were huge animal welfare consequences: adverse behavioural issues, respiratory diseases and, tragically, more than 60,000 healthy animals culled on farms.

The former Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, on which I sat, worked hard on that issue and was grateful for the engagement of Conservative farming Ministers to work with the sector to try to mitigate the horrific situation. However, it was a crisis—economically, for animal welfare and, importantly, for the mental health of those people involved in the situation. These draft regulations are crucial.

In 2022, the previous Conservative Government held a consultation on contractual relationships in the pig sector. Findings showed that 89% of respondents were supportive of written contracts, and 64% of respondents reported issues with honouring sale agreements, including price and quantity disputes. Bearing that in mind, I ask the Minister: why has there been a delay in laying the regulations? With the introduction of the family farm tax, the withdrawal of the sustainable farming incentive and the significant reduction in delinked payments, it is clear that our farming communities—today we are talking about our pig farming and dairy farming communities—desperately need our support.

The draft regulations introduce important safeguards and tackle the noticeable disparity in the commercial relationship, which has sadly led to farmers being vulnerable to unfair trading practices and to the risks of contracts that impose commercially harmful terms and provide little legal protection. During the passing of the milk regulations, the then shadow Minister—the current Minister—commented that he did not think that the Government had

“really approached this issue with the pace and urgency that are required”. —[Official Report, Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee, 19 March 2024; c. 6.]

In a similar vein, I put it gently to the Minister: why has it taken the Government so long to lay the current regulations?

I also note that the draft regulations, as the Minister has said, make an important amendment to the milk regulations, concerning exclusive contracts. I would be grateful if he could provide an update on the implementation of the milk regulations to date. Specifically, has the Secretary of State had to use his power to issue a monetary penalty or to order compensation, since the regulations came into force in 2024 for new contracts? Have the Government had any representations from dairy businesses and buyers who are amending their contracts, ahead of the deadline this year for pre-existing contracts, to fall in line with the regulations? I urge that the change is kept under close review to ensure that it is working as it was intended and does not undermine fair contractual practices in the dairy sector.

Furthermore, while this instrument provides a degree of flexibility, it is essential that those flexibilities are not open to misuse, and that the draft regulations genuinely benefit producers. Will Minister, therefore, give assurance that the Government will commit to keeping the regulations under regular review and to making any amendments, where necessary, to ensure that they remain robust and effective?

Finally, could the Minister update us on the progress of introducing regulations to address unfair practices in the poultry sector or the fresh produce sector? As delays have harmed dairy farmers in the past, timely action is critical for other agricultural industries. Farmers deserve robust protection across all sectors, and I strongly encourage the Minister to prioritise introducing similar regulations.

His Majesty’s most loyal Opposition strongly support the draft regulations and look forward to their implementation to protect and support our vital and hard-working UK pig farmers, and to improve fairness and transparency in the industry.