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With these amendments being voted down by margin of 149 on Wednesday of last week the Bill is now likely to go to the House of Lords possibly by the first week of June and then back to the Commons in early July.

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker comments: With the Governments manifesto commitment to protect and not compromise on our environmental and animal welfare standard in trade deals, it is highly concerning that they will not cement this in legislation.

The pledge, after all, is one that stands for the term of this Government, however, this commitment needs to be far more permanent than that. This amendment is at the top of the list that NSA, and no doubt a good number of peers within the House of Lords will be keen to examine in more detail as the Bill begins its journey in the Lords, and we are firmly behind calls for a standards commission to take responsibility for standards equivalence decisions.

NSA is also still concerned over the lack of unity over the subject of food and farming and international trade and that decisions could be made without the benefit of the completion of our national food strategy.

Mr Stocker continues: Reading some of the comments made by MPs in the debate on Wednesday it is still clear that there are entirely opposing views on our future relating to food self-sufficiency and security, and international trade.

Of course, there is a balance that has to be struck and exports are a crucial part of our industry that help keep prices up and enable full product utilisation. But it surprises me that so few people in positions of power, even when we are in the depths of huge market disruption, remember that our domestic market is always the one we fall back on in times of concern, whether its brought about by animal disease, human pandemics, or political disagreements, and then they wonder why supply chains struggle to adapt.

One thing we must learn from the recent Covid-19 problems is that food security and resilient supply chains are equal in importance to environmental protection and climate change.

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NSA now looks to the Lords to protect production standards - Farming Life