Select committee: Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 3
Third Report - Implications of the UK-Australia FTA for Wales
Published 4 Aug 2021
Paragraph 28
Addressed to Wales Office
Welsh Affairs Committee One-off session on the implications for Wales of the UK/AUS FTA All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We are alert to the concerns of Welsh farmers that the gradual removal of tariffs on Australian beef and lamb potentially poses a competitive threat. However, this is unlikely to manifest in the short term, and it is far from certain that the UK will be flooded with Australian beef and lamb imports in the longer-term. The UK Government should clarify, in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the final treaty text, what conditions would need to be met for agricultural safeguards to be applied in years 10–15 after the agreement comes into force. In response to this report, the UK Government should also explain how it intends to work with the Welsh Government to ensure that its wider trade strategy is coherent with ambitions to make farming more productive and sustainable.
From: Welsh Affairs Committee, Third Report - Implications of the UK-Australia FTA for Wales (HC 481), paragraph 28, 4 August 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 25 November 2021 (deadline 4 October 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out existing engagement and publication arrangements for most recommendations, says it will publish its response to the Trade and Agriculture Commission report "as soon as it is ready", and commits to no new Wales-specific impact assessment.
- On Welsh Government access to draft treaty text, it says it has "committed–and delivered on the commitment–to sharing FTA draft treaty text with the devolved administrations prior to any signature".
- On a Wales-specific impact assessment, it states only that DIT publishes scoping and impact assessments at the launch and conclusion of FTA negotiations, which provide analysis of potential impacts on the nations and regions of the UK.
- On agricultural safeguards in years 11 to 15, it describes product specific safeguards for beef and sheep meat, with a 20% safeguard duty if volume thresholds are exceeded, plus a general bilateral safeguard mechanism.
- On the Trade and Agriculture Commission, it says its advice "will be published to inform Parliamentarians" before ratification, and on Agriculture and Food Counsellors says "We aim to expand their number", without stating a date.