Kickers:
Aussie deal to lead to rural job losses
No protection for production standards
By Abi Kay
LONG-STANDING fears that farming would be made the sacrificial lamb in post-Brexit trade deals appeared to be substantiated this week, after the Governments own analysis of the Australian agreement made clear agriculture would face significant losses.
According to a report in The i, an impact assessment carried out by officials showed British agriculture, forestry and fishing were expected to take a 94 million hit, with the farming sector predicted to contract as a result of increased competition when tariffs are lifted on Australian imports.
The revelation came as a separate analysis carried out by the Resolution Foundation warned the losers from the deal would be concentrated in agriculture, with job losses expected in rural regions, such as Wales, the South East, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland.
NFU president Minette Batters said: The truth is, when it comes to agriculture, this is a one-sided deal. The Australians have achieved all they have asked for.
While none of us can predict the future, the upshot is likely to mean UK farmers increasingly competing against food which is produced under a system with different rules and with significantly lower costs of production.
The Government has insisted British farmers would 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.
In response to concerns about standards, Defra Secretary George Eustice has repeatedly referred to an animal welfare chapter which was included in the agreement.
But the text of this chapter simply reaffirms the right of both countries to set their own policies and protections for animal welfare, while committing not to reduce them.
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 replicated 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.
This is 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, he said.
It is an important signal with implications for some issues, including genetically modified organisms, and it will be criticised by many, but viable options to address concerns about food production standards remain unexplored.
