Government must commit to restoring lost food sector growth, say MPs
A report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee calls on the government to aid the UK farming and food sector in making up an estimated £278 million loss because of the Australia/UK free trade agreement, by allocating additional support for exports.
The government estimates that the Australia free trade agreement – which removes tariffs on a range of imports from Australia, including beef and sheep meat, sugar and wine – will boost the UK economy by £2.3 billion by 2035, but that some sectors including farming will lose out.
Contributors from the UK food and farming sectors told the committee they feared that factors such as the cheaper costs of production on Australia’s much larger farms, as well as lower animal welfare standards in Australia, would allow Australian exporters to undercut them in UK shops.
The committee heard from some contributors that there is “unlikely to be a significant, immediate impact on UK cattle and sheep farmers.” The report argues that this is because Australia has more profitable markets closer to home and does not send all the meat it could to the UK under current trade arrangements.
However, the report noted that after 15 years there will be no limit on imports.
Core standards
It also recommends that government should formally commit to upholding animal welfare and environmental standards in all post-Brexit trade deals.
Quoting an adviser to the government, Henry Dimbleby, the report says that a failure to adopt a ‘core standards’ approach to animal welfare and the environment, while negotiating free trade agreements, poses a danger of “exporting cruelty and carbon emissions abroad”.
The committee’s report acknowledges that the Australia free trade deal does not prevent core standards being adopted in the future and that it is “unlikely” that much food that doesn’t meet these standards will enter the country because of this deal.
It also advises that committing to standards – on matters such as deforestation and the use of hormone growth chemicals in meat – ahead of negotiations would strengthen the hand of UK negotiators.
Lessons to be learnt
The chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Sir Robert Goodwill MP, said that the government needs to “carefully monitor” the impacts of the FTA on UK farmers and “learn lessons for future trade deals.”
He said: “The government must commit to helping the food and farming sector win back the £278 million worth of lost growth it will experience because of this deal. There’s a plan to appoint new trade envoys to push our exports. We welcome that, but we also need to see the government commit to – and deliver on – the £278 million target for additional exports to ensure the sector is no worse off.
“If that requires other export promotion strategies, then they must be implemented. We will be watching the numbers and holding the government to account.”
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