Farming groups have hailed new tariff rates for Welsh agricultural products as “a step in the right direction” amid concerns over future relationships with Europe.

The EU trading bloc is a export market for Welsh produce, and unions had feared that the tariffs proposed would represent a threat to that relationship.

But after meeting the Minister for Trade Policy Greg Hands, Farmers Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts said he was pleased with progress.

“The importance of aligning agricultural tariffs for products such as beef, lamb and dairy produce is something the FUW made clear in a meeting with Minister Hands on Monday,” Mr Roberts said.

“Since February last year, we have written repeatedly to the UK Government regarding proposed draft tariff rates which would represent a major threat to UK farmers and consumers, the UK’s food security and would be a massive own goal in terms of reducing our negotiating capital in trade talks.”

In early March this year, the FUW responded to a consultation by the UK Government’s Department for International Trade, warning that tariffs on agricultural produce protect UK farm businesses against unfair competition from products produced in conditions which would be illegal in the UK.

This, the statement said, protects the UK’s high standards, farm businesses and those businesses which form part of agricultural supply chains, and those workers within those supply chains.

It is also considered to protect domestic food production, increasing UK food security.

Mr Roberts said that while the FUW was still considering the full range of tariffs – of which there are almost 12,000 – the decision to closely align tariffs for key Welsh agricultural products such as lamb, beef, cheese and butter with those in place in the EU was a welcome step compared with previously published draft rates which were far lower than those applied by the EU.

“However, it is essential that we do not see these reduced or watered down, whatever the outcome of the current trade negotiations,” said Mr Roberts.

“Even in the event of a no-deal Brexit in the short term, we need to keep import tariffs at rates which match those of the EU and therefore provide an incentive for a beneficial deal between the UK and other countries - especially those that are on our doorstep.”