Mr Reed said: "The British poultry industry welcomes the Prime Minister’s focus on forging a new deal which serves UK interests – prioritising competitiveness, jobs and growth. Although poultry producers do not receive subsidies, Brussels has a major impact on our industry. The effects that common standards, tariffs, trade rules and other regulations, including CAP reform, have on food manufacturers should be considered in any evaluation of the UK-EU relationship.

"As the Commission reported last week, the European poultry meat market is expected to continue to grow over the next decade, while still coping with high feed prices. In any event UK poultry producers are counting on a strong UK-EU relationship to support crucial sectors like ours."