The UK government is considering imposing tariffs on food imports from countries with lower food safety standards than its own.

According to The Guardian, the UK’s Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said that that the country has the right to set its own standards on environmental protection. That measure would be legal within the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Speaking to an audience of farmers at the Oxford Farming Conference, Theresa Villiers said:  “We want to ensure all our food comes from countries that meet our standards.

“That is what the powerful tools of the WTO do, they enable us to impose tariffs wher we believe products do not meet our high standards.”

Villers explained that high standards of animal welfare and farming will be maintained post-Brexit. She added that these standards will form a core part of the UK’s governmental approach.

The UK-based charity Soil Association’s head, Rob Percival, explained that Villiers’s suggestion to impose tariffs on the food imports from certain countries with laxer food safety and farming standards will not help in meeting the UK food safety standards.

Percival added: “This policy and the ensuing legislation must ensure non-regression on environment, food and farming standards, and ensure the UK can continue to raise the bar in response to the climate and nature emergency.”