Overview
- Europe minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has raised the oats issue with EU counterparts in reset negotiations, and no agreement has been reached.
- The European Commission’s tighter mycotoxin limits, agreed after Brexit, would take effect in the UK if the government realigns with EU agricultural rules.
- Farming groups and the NFU warn the rules could leave British-grown oat products unsellable in wet years, threatening supermarket supply and farmers’ incomes.
- The UK Committee on Toxicity’s preliminary guidance says current domestic standards are sufficiently protective, aligning with a 2014 FSA finding of low exposures.
- EU officials are wary of granting opt-outs seen as preferential, though a labelling fix used in the Brexit ‘sausage wars’ is cited as a potential precedent.