12 Acknowledged

While we believe the Government could have gone further in the UK-Australia FTA on standards,...

Recommendation
While we believe the Government could have gone further in the UK-Australia FTA on standards, it has the opportunity, through the various forums created under the agreement, to continue to discuss environmental and animal welfare issues with Australia as part of its wider ambition of raising standards globally. The Government must produce a clear strategy for how it will use the forums created by the UK-Australia FTA to raise standards in the future. It should also set out how it will organise and resource the work of these committees to ensure they have sufficient senior buy-in on both sides to make further progress. Finally, it should set out what provision it will make for parliamentary scrutiny of the proposals of these committees. (Paragraph 81) Lessons for future trade deals
Government Response Summary
The government will work with all stakeholders as it prepares for the entry into force of this FTA and will provide updates to the International Agreements Committee and International Trade Committee regarding the implementation and continued operation of the Agreement on a regular basis.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government Acknowledged
The UK-AUS FTA establishes a number of institutional provisions to implement the FTA and provides the structures to continue to build on what we have agreed in the deal, to enhance the benefits for UK and Australian businesses. This includes an Environment Working Group to oversee the implementation of the Environment Chapter that will meet no later than one year after the FTA enters into force and then seek to meet at least every two years thereafter. There will also be a Joint Working Group on Animal Welfare to oversee cooperation on the improvement of animal welfare practices, information sharing and other welfare-related matters. The Government will continue to uphold our high standards and work with trade partners to raise standards internationally. The Agreement provides the structures to continue to build on what we have agreed in the FTA. As we prepare for the entry into force of this FTA, the Government will work with all stakeholders to ensure that the implementing institutional provisions are used effectively to raise standards. All joint committee decisions made under this Agreement will be published on the same webpage as the Agreement on gov.uk. This will ensure a complete, up-to-date and easily accessible record of the Agreement and relevant related documents. If the decision constitutes as a treaty amendment, whether subject to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRaG) or not are laid in Parliament as Command Papers and published in United Kingdom Treaty Series. The Government’s intention is that significant amendments to FTA treaties should be subject to ratification and therefore will be submitted to parliament for scrutiny in accordance with CRaG. Alongside the reporting outlined above, the Government also intends providing updates to the International Agreements Committee and International Trade Committee regarding the implementation, and continued operation, of this Agreement on a regular basis. The Government will continue to review and adopt best practices in this regard as the UK’s first ‘from scratch’ free trade agreements come into force, as it will with wider scrutiny arrangements.
Timeline
Recommendation age 4.0 yrs
Report published 17 Jun 2022