An absolute betrayal: Farming experts give evidence on Australia deal to trade commission

• Agriculture experts liken their industry to ‘sacrificial lambs’ in the Australia trade deal and detail the damaging precedent it sets for future trade talks and current standards.

• In the absence of parliamentary scrutiny, the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission has today been taking evidence from trade and agricultural experts on the expected impact of the deal.

• The Commission will use this evidence to make recommendations to the Government on the Australia deal and on future negotiations.
   

Agriculture experts have described the Australia trade deal as "an absolute betrayal" of the farming sector in their evidence to the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission today.
 

As Parliament will not be given a vote on the agreement, the Commission held a special session to examine the details and consequences of the UK-Australia trade deal agreed in principle in June particularly for the agriculture sector, UK standards and on future trade negotiations.
 

Discussing the volume of imports from Australia and how their lower food standards will allow them to undercut British farmers, Jilly Greed, of The Suckler Beef Producers Association said, “This is an absolute betrayal… this is Christmas all over for Australia… Currently there’s about 3,700 tonnes of Australian products coming into this country... this will increase to 45 times that amount to 170,000 in 15 years time... so much has been given away, for such little benefit to the consumer.”
 

On the issue of standards, Phil Stocker, Chief Executive of the National Sheep Association said, “Month after month the industry have been promised our higher standards would be protected through these trade deals and that we would be global leaders in pushing forward improvements in animal welfare, health and environmental management but you can see that what we’re going to come down to is a discussion on some loose form of equivalence… We’ve always been concerned that we’re going to be the sacrificial lamb in these trade deals.”
 

Regarding animal cruelty, David Bowles, Head of Public Affairs for the RSPCA highlighted the ambiguity of the Government’s pledge not to compromise on animal welfare standards. He said, “The UK has been very coy... if you don't have conditionality or equivalence in your FTA it means you export your animal welfare standards. Coy is probably a polite way of saying it, a more reasonable way of saying it would be disingenuous.” 
 

Warning of the precedent that the Australia trade deal sets for future trade talks, former Chief Economist at the National Farmers Union, Séan Rickard said, “[The UK] wants to strike out on its own for free trade deals with the likes of Australia, New Zealand, America, Brazil, it is going to have to give ground on imports of agricultural products… And goodness me, the Americans have made that so clear… we will adopt their standards or there will be no deal... You might think that this Australian deal is preparing people for when they really hit them with an American deal later on.”
 

It is anticipated that a best case scenario would see the UK-Australia deal deliver as little as a 0.02% increase to the UK’s GDP with Australia expected to enjoy an export boost six times that of Britain from the arrangement.  Conversely, the Commission has already taken evidence from the financial sector, cultural and creative industries and from small businesses all of whom have testified that significant business has been lost because of increased red tape when dealing with our closest neighbours.
 

Caroline Lucas MP who chaired this session of the commission said,

““In their haste to make headlines, the Government compromised on our standards, our climate commitments and even the livelihoods of our farmers.

“We will use today’s evidence to make constructive recommendations on how this can be improved, but we urge the Government to show some backbone and stand up for Britain in future talks rather than rolling over to make a quick deal.”
 

It was announced in June that the International Trade Secretary has begun talks to have Britain join a different trading bloc formed of Pacific countries (CPTPP) while the Foreign Secretary announced he will visit Brazil this month. The Brazilian President has previously been criticised for his misogynistic comments, Covid-denial and encouraging further destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
 

Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain said,

“The Australia deal is an ominous sign that the Government is ready to pay any price in their rush to sign new trade deals, today it’s our farmers, tomorrow it could be our NHS.

“Government hasn’t published the text of the deal, meaning there is precious little scrutiny. But we all know that sunshine is the best disinfectant so the UK Trade and Business Commission will continue to interrogate this deal, cut through the spin and understand exactly what it means for British people and for future negotiations.”
 

The Commission will make recommendations based on today's evidence in the interests of protecting those who may be adversely affected by the Australia deal and to prevent further unfair trade deals for Britain.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Best for Britain Press Office
Email: niall@bestforbritain.org
Call: 075 4010 0933

The witnesses at this session of the UK trade and Business commission were

• Dmitry Grozoubinski, Former Australian Diplomat and Trade Negotiator at the World Trade Organisation

• David Bowles, Head of Public Affairs, RSPCA

• Séan Rickard, Former Chief Economist at the NFU

• Phil Stocker, Chief Executive, National Sheep Association

• Jilly Greed, Cofounder of Ladies in Beef, The Suckler Beef Producers Association

This session of the Commission can be watched here

Background: The UK Trade and Business Commission was launched in April to provide independent scrutiny of the UK’s trade deals with Europe and the rest of the world. It brings together eleven MPs from all nine Westminster parties and all four nations of the UK, along with business leaders and expert economists. The Commission is co-convened by Hilary Benn MP and the Chairman of Virgin Group, Peter Norris, and the secretariat is provided by the cross-party, pro-internationalist group Best for Britain.