Brexit trade deals could force UK farmers to cut animal welfare standards, critics warn as EU bans antibiotics

Efforts to cut antibiotic use on farms must be reinforced by new laws, campaigners tell Holly Bancroft

EU rules, introduced on Friday, ban the import of animal produce reared with antibiotic growth promoters. (Getty)

Post-Brexit trade deals present a “real risk” to UK farming standards, campaigners have warned, as the EU introduces tough new restrictions on the use of antibiotics on animals.

The UK has failed to follow the EU in new legislation introduced on Friday that curbs the routine use of antibiotics on farm animals. Animal rights and medical campaign groups have warned that the UK have been left “exposed” with “weaker rules”, which would lead to further deadly antibiotic-resistant infections.

However livestock industry chiefs have said that the UK does not need blanket regulation on use of the drugs and said that producers will maintain their high standards.