Select committee: Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 10
Third Report - Implications of the UK-Australia FTA for Wales
Published 4 Aug 2021
Paragraph 40
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 welcome the Agreement in Principle reached between the UK and Australian governments and await the final text of the free trade agreement (FTA). However, while the UK-Australia FTA is unlikely to have a significant impact on Wales in the short term, we are conscious of the concerns that exist within the Welsh agri- food sector. Farm businesses are already facing some uncertainty in the transition away from the EU system of farm payments and the changing trade environment. The UK Government and Welsh Government must work with the agri-food sector to ensure that UK producers have the skills and support needed to thrive in a new global trading environment.
From: Welsh Affairs Committee, Third Report - Implications of the UK-Australia FTA for Wales (HC 481), paragraph 40, 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.