Recommendation 4

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