Nick von Westenholz, the director of strategy for the lobby group, met Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, the Earl of Minto, who was the minister of state for regulatory reform, last year and asked him to review EU-derived environmental protections. The Guardian revealed this year that the UK's EU-derived environmental regulations were being eroded following Brexit.
According to government minutes released to Unearthed, Greenpeace's journalism arm, after a freedom of information request, Von Westenholz told Minto last July: "Thresholds for pesticide residues are tiny. Burden on farmers and water companies on the amount they have to invest in systems to meet negligible requirements."
He added: "Opposition to relaxation of standards is around the greater use of pesticides. But [there is] no evidence that increasing thresholds would do any harm."
The NFU said the comments did not mean it wanted the thresholds increased, just that it wanted them reviewed. A spokesperson said: "He explained the NFU's stated policy position, which questions whether the strict, historic limits on pesticide residues in water are based on up-to-date science.
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