FARM groups have expressed their anger after the UK formally signed the Australian trade deal, with leaders claiming it is devoid of common sense.
The NFU, Soil Association, Compassion in World Farming and Sustain lined up to criticise the agreement, claiming it delivers nothing for UK farmers and will allow the import of sub-standard food from across the world.
In response to concerns about standards, Defra Secretary George Eustice has repeatedly referred to an animal welfare chapter being included in the agreement.
But the text of this chapter, which has just been published after the deal was agreed in principle in June, reaffirms the right of both countries to set their own policies and protections for animal welfare, while committing not to reduce them.
It also establishes a Joint Working Group on Animal Welfare, which will provide a forum for cooperation on initiatives of mutual interest, review developments in animal welfare, promote high animal welfare practices and allow information to be shared.
NFU president Minette Batters said: We will analyse the detail in full, but on the face of it, this is a one-sided deal. When it comes to agriculture, the Australians have achieved all they have asked for and British farmers are left wondering what has been secured for them.
The Government has insisted British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports from Australia, but beef and sheep tariffs will be eliminated after 10 years, sugar after eight and dairy after five.
During the transition period, Australia will have access to duty-free quotas of all products.
Vicki Hird, head of sustainable farming at Sustain, slammed the deal, claiming it betrays farmers, with Australians able to use feedlots, battery cages, sow stalls, growth hormones and pesticides banned in the UK.
Soil Association head of food policy Rob Percival was disappointed too, saying the logic of the deal was difficult to discern, while Dr Nick Palmer, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, urged Ministers not to let this agreement set a precedent for future negotiations.
Derrick Wilson, a retired economist with significant experience of trade and environment policy, also noted that the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) provisions in the deal essentially replicate the provisions in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP) the multi-lateral deal between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim which the UK is seeking to join.
He said this was the 'clearest signal yet' that the UK is moving away from the EU approach based on the precautionary principle and towards the science-based approach advocated by the CPTPP members and the US, with implications for GMOs.
