Direct payments are safe until at least 2022, Scotland’s Brexit Minister Lord Duncan has said. In an exclusive interview with Farmers Journal Scotland the recently appointed Minister said that direct payments will have to continue in the short term.

You can’t take direct payment away and expect there to be some kind of agriculture left behind

“You can’t take direct payment away and expect there to be some kind of agriculture left behind,” Lord Duncan said. “Payments will continue for the duration of the parliament, through Brexit and out the other side.”

Up until now, the Conservative Government has said nothing about how the rural budget will be paid going forward. With so many farm businesses using support payments to prop up a significant part of their business revenue, the confirmation until 2022 will be welcomed by farmers.

However, Lord Duncan was less clear on how payments would look after 2022.

“Is pillar structure, as it exists at a European level, the most sensible for Scotland? Probably not.”

Free trade with EU

The UK is pushing for a frictionless border with the EU, according to recent statements from DEFRA Minister Michael Gove. This would give free access for farm goods into the continent and access for continental produce into the UK.

We need to get to a situation where no tariff barriers start to emerge

“When it comes to our trade with the EU we need a free-trade agreement for perishables,” Lord Duncan said. “Our primary market for primary production is Europe. Ditto the other way round, as their primary products come to us, whether it is cheese, wines or meats.

“So, in this particular area, there is a need to agree there are no new tariffs introduced and, equally importantly, we need to get to a situation where no tariff barriers start to emerge. We cannot have lorries queuing at either side of the channel. We cannot have a situation where perishable goods are allowed to perish as checks are made or regulations enforced.

“This is going to be a challenge, as the mood music from Michel Barnier is that things must look different.”

Adhering to EU rules will be a must for farmers wanting to sell their produce to the continent

So the question is: how different will things look? Widely speaking, there is hope that farmers will have less red tape to deal with. But the Conservative Minister is clear the changes in regulatory requirements won’t happen overnight.

“In the short term, we should be looking at equivalence, as that is how we trade just now. Adhering to EU rules will be a must for farmers wanting to sell their produce to the continent.”

Dual standards

However, if you don’t sell to Europe, you may not need to comply with their regulation. Potentially, farmers could be producing to dual standards, so there would be a divergent system with different standards – depending on whether you are producing for domestic or foreign markets.

“What we want to achieve is the notion of home-and-away. Farms that want to trade into the EU must be compliant with EU rules. If you have a product that is only going to be consumed in the UK, why does it have to be to EU rules?”

But compliance is a two-way system. European producers may have to up their game to gain access to the UK markets as well.

There are standards on the continent which are remarkably lax compared to the standards which we adhere to the UK on a daily basis

“There are standards on the continent which are remarkably lax compared to the standards which we adhere to the UK on a daily basis, such as the rules around the transport of animals,” Lord Duncan believes. “There are areas where I don’t think we should be producing to continental standards, as we should be asking them frankly to raise [theirs].”

Holyrood and Westminister

When it comes to politics, Lord Duncan is no stranger to the rough and tumble of democracy. He was defeated by just 21 votes by SNP candidate Pete Wisshart in Theresa May’s botched election gamble. However, Lord Duncan bounced back to the front line when he was recalled from Brussels and elevated into the House of Lords.

Since the Highland Show, there has been much political point-scoring between Holyrood and Westminster, with Brexit at the centre.

“The reality is that when you get down to what the farmers are concerned about, I suspect the difference between the Scottish Government and the UK Governments will be far less significant,” he said, stressing the need for collaboration. “You can’t stand at either side of a chasm and point in different directions, and believe we are going to represent farming interests – because we are not.

“When it comes to sketching in the red lines of the negotiating positions, each of those must reflect the distinctive Scottish agricultural needs. I would say that – and I don’t doubt Fergus Ewing would say that – as we are both on the same page when it comes to representing [Scotland].”

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Lord Duncan of Springbank, Under Secretary of State for Scotland: The wafer-thin majority of Theresa May’s Government in Westminster means Scottish Secretary David Mundell MP will have few chances to leave parliament, as his vote will be needed every time. As a result, the Conservatives have recalled Lord Duncan from the European Parliament, where he was an MEP for Scotland. Lord Duncan was elevated to the House of Lords and brought into the Government as David Mundell’s junior Scotland minister. Lord Duncan is to be Mundell’s man on the ground for all things Brexit in Scotland.

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