Recommendation 5

We are concerned that the statutory Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC) is not yet operational and we urge the UK Government to set up the TAC as soon as possible. The UK Government intends to allow the TAC to scrutinise the final text of the UK-Australia free trade agreement (FTA), but this may occur too late to enable effective Parliamentary scrutiny of the agreement. To improve scrutiny of future FTAs, the TAC’s report should be published alongside the final text, impact assessment and explanatory memorandum.