Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
4
Recommendation
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
Not Addressed
The farming industry has concerns about the effect of significant competition from imported Australian meat, and there is a lack of clarity on the potential environmental impacts from increased trade with Australia. The FTA with Australia signed in December 2021 removed tariffs and quotas on many agricultural products imported from …
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The farming industry has concerns about the effect of significant competition from imported Australian meat, and there is a lack of clarity on the potential environmental impacts from increased trade with Australia. The FTA with Australia signed in December 2021 removed tariffs and quotas on many agricultural products imported from Australia. There are four safeguards to protect the agriculture sector, including a 15-year safeguard to protect UK beef and lamb from a rapid rise in Australian imports following implementation of the deal. The Department says that the safeguard is adequate given the length of the transition period and because the increase in imports is expected to be small relative to the size of the UK market. However, the National Farmers Union remains pessimistic about the impact of competition from Australia on farmers who may lose out in exchange for gains in other areas of the economy. Defra expects imports from Australia to largely displace existing imports, for example from the EU, and says that it is doing a lot to help the agriculture sector export, such as setting up a food and drink export council. The Department and also Defra tell us that they have modelled the environmental impact of the deal with Australia, and do not expect there to be Progress with trade negotiations 7 changes in greenhouse gas emissions of UK production, or that transporting goods from Australia will have a big impact on carbon emissions when compared to other parts of the production process. However, the departments acknowledge that more needs to be known about carbon emissions and the interaction between transport and trade. Recommendation: Defra should work with the Department for International Trade to monitor the impact of free trade agreements in its policy areas. In particular, it should: i) monitor imports closely to make an ongoing assessment of the impact of the Australia FTA on beef and sheep farmers, and set out what support could be provided to those farm
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Government response AI summary
Response refers to elective and cancer treatment waiting times, which is unrelated to the recommendation regarding monitoring the impact of free trade agreements.
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HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
Not Addressed
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for International Trade (the Department), the Cabinet Office and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).2 We were also joined for this evidence session by Mark Garnier MP and Anthony …
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On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for International Trade (the Department), the Cabinet Office and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).2 We were also joined for this evidence session by Mark Garnier MP and Anthony Mangnall MP from the International Trade Committee.
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Government response AI summary
The government response simply recaps the committee's process of taking evidence and publishing its report, without addressing any specific points.
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
Not Addressed
In addition to the programme of negotiations, the Department also needs to implement and review existing agreements.14 The Department told us that it has set up governance committees to provide an overview of how FTAs are being implemented in practice and to discuss issues arising. However, these implementation processes are …
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In addition to the programme of negotiations, the Department also needs to implement and review existing agreements.14 The Department told us that it has set up governance committees to provide an overview of how FTAs are being implemented in practice and to discuss issues arising. However, these implementation processes are at relatively early stages.15 We asked the Department about the work it may need to do to renegotiate the continuity agreements that the UK was originally party to as an EU member, where the EU may have made certain concessions without any benefit to the UK. The Department told us that the picture is mixed, and with some of these agreements, the UK made a clear commitment to come back to the overall deal to consider further opportunities. These include Canada and Mexico (where the Department has already run consultations), and South Korea, Turkey and Switzerland, but the Department said that it is not the case that every country wishes to re-negotiate existing agreements.16 However, we note the important point that the Department’s workload is more than the headline negotiations.17
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Government response AI summary
The government's response explicitly addresses a different recommendation regarding the development of outcome-based metrics for trade negotiations, not the committee's point about implementing and reviewing existing agreements or workload.
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HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
Not Addressed
We asked the Department how it would benchmark its trade promotion activities against those of countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. The Department said that it 34 Q 30; C&AG’s report, para 4.19; Department for International Trade, Impact assessment of the Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of …
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We asked the Department how it would benchmark its trade promotion activities against those of countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. The Department said that it 34 Q 30; C&AG’s report, para 4.19; Department for International Trade, Impact assessment of the Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Australia, 2021, part 8: Plans to monitor and evaluate the agreement 35 Q 34 36 Q 53 37 C&AG’s Report, para 4.16 38 Committee of Public Accounts, Government support for UK exporters, Twenty-First Report of Session 2019–21, HC 679, 28 October 2020 39 Q 4 40 Q 52 41 Q 57 42 Qq 52, 54 43 Letter from Permanent Secretary, DIT, to the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and the International Trade Committee, 4 February 2022 https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8916/documents/152325/ default/ 14 Progress with trade negotiations had developed an analytical framework to sit alongside the new export strategy that would be used to measure its success.44 It told us that it was moving away from taking credit for deals made by large companies where the Department’s role was questionable and focusing more on SMEs instead. However, when we asked about the outcomes of a specific export support activity—a virtual mission held by the Department to raise awareness of the UK-Japan trade agreement attended by around 250 businesses—the Department was unable to say if it had led to any export deals being signed.45
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Government response AI summary
The government's response explicitly addresses a different recommendation concerning outcome-based metrics for trade negotiations, failing to engage with the committee's observation about benchmarking trade promotion activities or measuring their specific outcomes.
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HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
We received written evidence from Logistics UK, asking for specific provisions to be included in future FTAs to make it easier for UK businesses to trade with the rest of the world. These include, for example, commitments to clear goods at the border within a pre-determined timeframe and cooperation between …
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We received written evidence from Logistics UK, asking for specific provisions to be included in future FTAs to make it easier for UK businesses to trade with the rest of the world. These include, for example, commitments to clear goods at the border within a pre-determined timeframe and cooperation between tax authorities to simplify requirements.46 Logistics UK would also like government to pursue Mutual Recognition Agreements and Customs Cooperation Agreements in addition to pursuing FTAs, as it said these agreements can lead to useful benefits for businesses without going through the full FTA process.47 Impact of trade agreements on agriculture and carbon emissions
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HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
Not Addressed
The FTA with Australia signed on 17 December 2021 removed almost all tariffs and quotas on agricultural products from Australia over 15 years. Tariff-free beef quotas, for example, would increase from a current 4,669 tonnes to 35,000 tonnes immediately after the agreement comes into force, a 7.5-fold increase in the …
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The FTA with Australia signed on 17 December 2021 removed almost all tariffs and quotas on agricultural products from Australia over 15 years. Tariff-free beef quotas, for example, would increase from a current 4,669 tonnes to 35,000 tonnes immediately after the agreement comes into force, a 7.5-fold increase in the tariff-free quota.48 We asked the Department whether this means that British famers were disadvantaged in return for the bigger, macroeconomic benefits of concluding an agreement with Australia.49 The Department told us that this was not the case and that the deal includes four safeguards to protect the agriculture sector, including a 15-year transition period that it considers will protect the farming industry against a rapid rise in beef and sheep meat imports.50 The Department acknowledged that Australia is a competitive producer of beef, but that it would be unlikely that Australia would divert its exports to the UK because it makes a lot of profit in East Asia. It also said that the size of the total UK domestic market for beef is large relative to the level that Australia would be allowed to export to the UK in the first year of the agreement.51
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Government response AI summary
Response discusses DIT's commitment to monitoring and evaluation findings, publishing a biennial FTA monitoring report, and working with DEFRA to support agricultural exports. It does not address the specific concerns raised in the conclusion.
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HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Forty-Fifth Report - Progress with trad…
Not Addressed
Which? also highlighted the importance of reflecting consumer interests more generally and suggested that a consumer chapter should be included in each trade agreement.69 The Department confirmed that the UK-New Zealand trade agreement will include a “first ever” chapter on consumer protection and it said that it wants to test …
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Which? also highlighted the importance of reflecting consumer interests more generally and suggested that a consumer chapter should be included in each trade agreement.69 The Department confirmed that the UK-New Zealand trade agreement will include a “first ever” chapter on consumer protection and it said that it wants to test appetite in this area with other partners – where partners are equally interested in pursuing this. The Department said that consumer chapters serve to improve cooperation and to ensure the benefits are more clearly explained to consumers.70 It wrote to us to explain that the consumer protection chapter that the UK is negotiating with New Zealand aims to uphold consumer protection rights and ensure that consumers continue to benefit from trade 62 Q 3 63 C&AG’s Report, paras 16, 25 64 PTN0001 65 Q 47 66 C&AG’s Report, para 16 67 PTN0001 68 Q 48 69 PTN0001 70 Qq 58–60 Progress with trade negotiations 17 in both online and offline settings. For example, the agreement is currently expected to include commitments requiring goods to be of satisfactory quality at the time of delivery and requiring services to be performed with reasonable skill and care..71
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Government response AI summary
The government's response focuses on general transparency in trade negotiations, economic analysis methodologies, and public engagement, rather than addressing the committee's specific point about including consumer protection chapters in trade agreements.
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HM Treasury