Defra has launched another drive to slash regulations in the farming industry. The Department claims its new initiative will "unlock economic growth by cutting unnecessary red tape," freeing farmers from bureaucracy.

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Making the claim that farmers in the UK are still overburdened by regulations on their businesses, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson announced a fresh consultation on 'Red Tape' in the industry on Wednesday. The Defra Secretary urged farmers to present their views on ways in which government could "make regulation less burdensome for businesses and others in agriculture, animal health and… plant health."

Although the government claims this latest round of its Red Tape Challenge (the challenge was instigated in April 2011) will allow business leaders and members of the public to identify and reform "unnecessary or ineffective" legislation, in a bid to make business run more smoothly, opponents to the last round of the challenge claimed it risked actually weakening vital legislation which protects the environment, access to the countryside and workers' rights.

Echoing his predecessor Caroline Spelman, who launched the previous exercise, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said on Wednesday, "Our safeguards ensure that British businesses have a global reputation for high standards in areas like animal welfare and food safety. We are upholding these standards and making them simpler to apply.

"For too long, businesses have been held back by complicated, unclear or outdated regulation. We are cutting out the time businesses are investing in unnecessary red tape, freeing them to focus their resources on growth."

The Defra Secretary said work is already underway to reduce regulatory burdens on the industry, led by the Farming Regulation Taskforce under Richard Macdonald. As per the taskforce's recommendations, farmers who consistently demonstrate high standards will be inspected less and voluntary measures have taken precedence over legally binding regulations in governing industry behaviour.

Macdonald, Chair of the Farming Regulation Taskforce, commented, "This is a welcomed additional opportunity to get input from the industry on how to further reduce [the regulatory] burden." However, at its Board Meeting in London yesterday, executives from the Food Standards Agency were highly critical of Macdonald's task force; the FSA officials principally rejected the Taskforce's recommendation to allow abattoirs to use private sector inspectors, rather than FSA personnel. On Tuesday, FSA Chair Jeff Rooker denigrated the task force as being "riddled with vested interests."

Earlier this week, MPs on the EFRA Committee, reporting on the handling of the recent 'horsemeat' scandal slammed the government's 2010 reforms affecting the FSA and urged for it to be given "the power to be able to compel industry" to act when necessary.

Defra targets EU regulations

On Wednesday, Defra said its upcoming review would focus on ensuring that EU regulations "do not impose disproportionate burdens on UK businesses." The department said farmers' views presented in the consultation would go on to inform the UK's negotiating strategy on the new EU frameworks for animal health and plant health.

Defra is also seeking views on how the new Common Agricultural Policy can be implemented in England in ways that are "as simple, affordable and as effective as possible". The government claims its drive to reduce 'red tape' is on course to save businesses in the UK £1 billion every year.

Reacting to the government's claims during the last phase of the red tape challenge, Friends of the Earth spokesperson Craig Bennett said there is "no evidence that [the challenge] won't simply create extra confusion and costs for businesses." He continued, "The Government claims this bureaucratic tidying-up exercise will save £1 billion, but there's not a shred of evidence to back up this claim - if they want to save cash they should scrap the red tape challenge instead."

However, although businesses have largely welcomed the government strategy and environmentalists have balked at what they see as a fresh attack on vital legislation, there are reasons to suggest that, so far at least, the effects of the government's drive have been minimal; a progress report published earlier this year by Richard Macdonald's taskforce revealed most farmers have seen little or no impact on the amount of bureaucracy they encounter.

Reacting to the last round of the Red Tape Challenge, environmental analysts at the ENDS report, said the government's drive amounted to little more than a PR exercise. The main criticism of the last round of the Challenge was the degree of government spin in claiming its review of regulations was being led by the public, when the clear majority of responses to consultations favoured maintaining or enhancing regulations which secure environmental and social benefits.  

However, on Wednesday, Defra said the current phase of the Challenge would look at regulations themselves, not just their delivery, as had been studied by Macdonald's Farming Regulation Taskforce, meaning real changes could take place.