UK and Australia agree FTA
After weeks of negotiations, the UK and Australia have struck a free trade deal
The UK has struck a free trade deal with Australia.
The main elements of the deal were agreed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a meeting in Downing Street on Monday (June 14). A final Agreement in Principle will be published in the coming days.
Government has pledged to protect British farmers with a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards.
They also they will support agricultural producers to increase their exports overseas, including to new markets in the Indo-Pacific.
Farming in the UK is a business and needs to be globally competitive so these factors must be at the heart of this new deal with Australia
Responding to this news, CLA Deputy President Mark Tufnell said:
“It’s important that we are able to support free trade and farming as a nation and we welcome this deal in principle.
“But, in any deal we strike with other countries, it’s essential that imports meet domestic standards on food safety, animal welfare and the environment. Many are concerned of the volume of Australian beef entering the UK but, with only 0.15% coming onto the domestic market, it’s minimal. Instead, the focus should be on government putting suitable checks and balances in place to safeguard standards and production methods.
“Our farmers are subject to stringent environmental and animal health and welfare standards, so it would be totally unacceptable to allow them to be undercut by imports produced to lower standards. Farming in the UK is a business and needs to be globally competitive so these factors must be at the heart of this new deal with Australia.”
For more information on the deal, click here