Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 14 October 2020.
Minister, you'll be aware that our food standards and our animal welfare standards, of which we are so proud, are under threat from multiple sources. I'm very concerned that a free trade agreement with the United States could lead to adulterated food from the United States flooding our shores. George Washington University has been undertaking research over the last five years on meat that is sold in United States shops. Fourteen per cent of poultry and 13 per cent of pork had traces of salmonella, and E. coli was present in 60 per cent of pork, 70 per cent of beef, 80 per cent of chicken and 90 per cent of turkey products. This is a terrifying prospect. But the most immediate threat to our food security is the disruption of fresh food supplies imported from Europe, which Llyr Gruffydd has already referred to, in the event of a worst-case scenario of a 'no deal' Brexit. We learned last week that the UK Government has suppressed this information to devolved Governments, preventing you from having all the information that you need to prepare for such an eventuality. As Wales imports most of our vegetables and fruit from Europe, what can be done now to increase our production of these important aspects of our daily lives, and to protect people from massive price rises and shortages, to which low-income families will be particularly vulnerable?