First report - Australia FTA: Food and Agriculture

Select Committee

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee HC 23 17 June 2022

Report Status Response document linked Recorded deadline: 17 Aug 2022

Missing links do not establish that no response was published. A linked document does not verify responses to individual findings.

Conclusions & Recommendations 16 items (13 recs)

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Government response

Third Special Report - Australia FTA: Food and Agriculture: Government Response to the Committee’s First Report · published 12 Oct 2022

Read the government response ↗ Response on the tracker

Recommendations & Conclusions

16 results

1 Conclusion

Para 21

We understand the concerns that UK cattle and sheep farmers have raised about the impact...

Conclusion

We understand the concerns that UK cattle and sheep farmers have raised about the impact of additional competition from Australian imports under the UK-Australian FTA, but other witnesses advised us that the immediate risk appears to be limited. However, as … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

2 Recommendation

Para 22

While the Government has argued that it has secured three safeguards to protect farmers it...

Recommendation

While the Government has argued that it has secured three safeguards to protect farmers it appears to us that only the general bilateral safeguard mechanism offers any real protection. The volumetric safeguards would only kick in if there were a … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

3 Recommendation

Para 25

In future negotiations the Government should ensure that its approach to negotiating changes to tariff...

Recommendation

In future negotiations the Government should ensure that its approach to negotiating changes to tariff free access to the UK meat market is more sophisticated than just weight of gross products and can differentiate between different cuts of meat—by using … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

4 Recommendation

Para 33

While the potential for increased agri-food exports from the UK-Australia FTA deal appears modest, the...

Recommendation

While the potential for increased agri-food exports from the UK-Australia FTA deal appears modest, the UK Government must support the food and farming industry to take maximum advantage of the opportunities that do exist. We welcome the Government’s plans to … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

5 Recommendation

Given the Government estimates that the net impact of the deal across all agriculture and...

Recommendation

Given the Government estimates that the net impact of the deal across all agriculture and food related sectors is a reduction of £278m, we believe the Government should aid the sector to increase the value of UK food and drink … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

6 Recommendation

Para 44

We welcome the innovation of including an animal welfare chapter, in the UK- Australia trade...

Recommendation

We welcome the innovation of including an animal welfare chapter, in the UK- Australia trade deal but we believe that the Government should have pushed further on improving animal welfare standards. This was a missed opportunity for the UK and … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

7 Recommendation

Para 54

The Trade and Agriculture Commission has concluded that there is likely to be an increase...

Recommendation

The Trade and Agriculture Commission has concluded that there is likely to be an increase in the import of products from Australia produced at lower cost by using pesticides that would not be permitted in the UK. We call upon … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

8 Recommendation

Para 55

We welcome the approach that the UK Government has taken to protecting the UK’s SPS...

Recommendation

We welcome the approach that the UK Government has taken to protecting the UK’s SPS requirements within negotiations on the UK-Australia FTA. It will be essential that the UK robustly maintains this position in negotiations with future trade partners who … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

9 Conclusion

Para 66

We welcome the commitment that the Minister made to ensuring that UK trade deals protect...

Conclusion

We welcome the commitment that the Minister made to ensuring that UK trade deals protect the natural environment through a non-regression obligation on relevant regulations and standards that is enforceable with sanctions for non-compliance. We call upon the UK Government … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

10 Recommendation

Para 67

However, it is regrettable that these provisions are not enforceable through the dispute resolution process...

Recommendation

However, it is regrettable that these provisions are not enforceable through the dispute resolution process if changes are made at the state level. In future deals the Government should seek to ensure environmental provision are binding on all levels of … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

11 Recommendation

Para 77

It is regrettable that the Government chose to engage in this negotiation without first articulating...

Recommendation

It is regrettable that the Government chose to engage in this negotiation without first articulating the core standards that the food imported into the UK must meet. Setting out core standards would have strengthened the hand of British negotiators, reassured … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

12 Recommendation

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 … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

13 Recommendation

Para 89

The Government risks negotiating with one hand tied behind its back if it does not...

Recommendation

The Government risks negotiating with one hand tied behind its back if it does not take full advantage of the knowledge and intelligence that the UK sector can provide to support negotiations. The description of the agri-food Trade Advisory Group … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

14 Recommendation

Para 92

As the Government has accepted, its Impact Assessment of the UK-Australia FTA is based on...

Recommendation

As the Government has accepted, its Impact Assessment of the UK-Australia FTA is based on a relatively limited model of its likely consequences for farming and other sectors of the economy. We welcome the Government’s review of how to improve … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

15 Conclusion

We found the TAC’s report extremely helpful and thank Professor Bartels, and his colleagues, for...

Conclusion

We found the TAC’s report extremely helpful and thank Professor Bartels, and his colleagues, for their work. We are concerned that Professor Bartels had to use university funds to support the TAC’s work on the Australia FTA. It is essential … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

16 Recommendation

We welcome the Government’s assertion that the UK-Australia FTA does not provide a blueprint for...

Recommendation

We welcome the Government’s assertion that the UK-Australia FTA does not provide a blueprint for future agreements. Nevertheless, we recognise the food and farming sector’s concerns that other major agricultural exporting nations may seek to use the existence of this … Read more

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs