Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
The FTA with Australia signed on 17 December 2021 removed almost all tariffs and quotas...
Conclusion
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
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.2 DIT is committed to using monitoring and evaluation (M&E) findings to ensure that the benefits for businesses, workers and consumers are maximised, and that lessons are learnt which inform the design of the department’s future trade policies. DIT will do this while working closely with DEFRA and other government departments. 4.3 DIT has committed to publishing a biennial FTA monitoring report, which will provide the Department’s analytical evidence base to inform and engage Parliament, the public and other interested stakeholders, including in the agriculture sector. 4.4 DIT will also work with DEFRA to support agricultural, and food and drink exports. DIT are working collaboratively with DEFRA to establish and launch the Food and Drink Export Council and are supporting DEFRA to establish and recruit a new cohort of agri-food attaches in key markets.