Call for Evidence: UK and India FTA

FSS is seeking stakeholder views on whether and to what extent provisions in UK-India Free Trade Agreement that relate to trade in agricultural products may affect the maintenance of UK statutory protections for human health.

This call for evidence will be most relevant to

Trade associations, NGOs, Academics and interested parties.

Purpose of the call for evidence

Stakeholder responses will inform Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and Food Standards Agency (FSA) advice to the Department for Business and Trade that will contribute to the UK Government report (required under Section 42(2) of the 2020 Agriculture Act) as part of the Parliamentary scrutiny process for this Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

How to respond

Submissions should be:

• submitted as a Microsoft Word document
• no longer than 2 pages in length (using Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 line spacing and margins of 2.54cm)

Submissions may be cited by the FSS and FSA in their advice. If you would like all or part of your submission to be treated as confidential, please contact FSS and FSA on ftascrutiny@food.gov.uk. FSS and FSA have full discretion to decide on the relevance of submissions.

Submitting persons or entities must list their website (if an organisation), along with an email address and a named contact. Submitting persons or entities may be contacted for further information.

Details of call for evidence

FSS and FSA seek stakeholder views on whether and to what extent provisions in the UK - India FTA that relate to trade in agricultural products may affect the maintenance of UK statutory protections for human health, in line with the FSS and FSA remit which covers food safety and nutrition. 

Please note that, in accordance with the commissioning letter from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to FSS and FSA, submissions should not address animal or plant life or health; animal welfare; and environmental protections as these areas will be assessed by the Trade and Agriculture Commission.

Evidence required

Textual evidence on whether and to what extent the measures applicable to trade in agricultural products in India are consistent with the maintenance of UK levels of statutory protection in relation to food safety and nutrition.

Responses

Responses are required by close 26 September 2025. Please state, in your response, whether you are responding as a private individual or on behalf of an organisation/company (including details of any stakeholders your organisation represents).

Please send responses to ftascrutiny@food.gov.uk.

For information on how the FSA handles your personal data, please refer to the Consultation privacy notice.

Further information

If you require a more accessible format of this document please send details to the named contact for responses to this consultation and your request will be considered.

Thank you on behalf of Food Standards Scotland for helping to ensure that our policy development is supported by a robust evidence basis.

UK and International Relations Team, Food Standards Scotland