Trade deals: Government must make ‘concrete commitments’, NFU says

International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan last week launched the new Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC), as part of the government’s response to the previous commission’s recommendations.

The TAC, which originally launched last year following extensive campaigning by farming and other organisations, is intended to provide independent scrutiny of new trade deals once they reach the signature stage, the government has said. The new commission will be chaired by professor of international law, Lorand Bartels.

Other measures introduced include: a new cohort of international ‘agri-food attachés’ who will work around the world to promote export opportunities for UK farmers and producers; and a new Food and Drink Export Council to work in collaboration with industry and governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to promote exports from all parts of the UK.

Mixed response

Responding to the news, NFU president Minette Batters said: “The government has made some important commitments in its response to the TAC report, particularly to provide greater resource to promote British food overseas as well as a positive commitment to review public procurement and country of origin information for out of home eating.

“The NFU wants to work with the government in establishing the new Export Council to open up real market opportunities overseas for UK food and farming businesses.

“It is also good to see the new TAC established, which more than one million people supported when they signed our food standards petition.”

However, she added that one of the key drivers in setting up the commission, was to find practical ways to safeguard the UK’s high environmental and animal welfare standards. The response, she said, “needed to move on from warm words to concrete commitments and practical and deliverable measures, which it has failed to do”.

She asked: “Where is the commitment to establish a clear set of core standards on which to base our free trade agreements – something farmers and the British public alike want to see?”

Ms Batters also noted that it has taken more than six months for the government to respond to the recommendations, during which time two important free trade deals have been agreed in principle.

“The disconnect between the government’s domestic and trade policies is stark and needs bridging urgently. The NFU has repeatedly stressed the importance of a strategic approach to boosting domestic food production so farmers can compete in the face of new trade deals and, given the TAC’s own recommendation for a new agri-food trade strategy, it’s frustrating that government has once again failed to address this.

“There remains plenty of work to do and the NFU stands ready to work with the government to ensure the UK’s trading position equally benefits British farmers and the British public who truly value quality, sustainable, climate-friendly British food.”

Concerns over delayed response 

In June this year, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee, expressed disappointment that the government had not yet responded to the TAC’s recommendations and raised concerns that it was being ignored in the government’s negotiation of post-Brexit trade deals.

In a letter to then international trade secretary Liz Truss, the committee wrote of its ‘surprise’ at Ms Truss’s claim that the commission was not intended to influence the negotiation of free trade agreements, but to ‘advise on future strategy’. The letter urged the government to respond to the key recommendations without delay and appoint a chair and members of the new statutory TAC that will scrutinise FTAs.

Commenting on the launch of the new TAC last week, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “I’m delighted to welcome Professor Lorand Bartels as Chair of the new Trade and Agriculture Commission. A trade lawyer and academic, he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role and I look forward to working together.

“I’m grateful to all the members of the original Trade and Agriculture Commission for their thorough and wide-reaching report. I want our farmers and food producers to be positive about the export opportunities that exist and take advantage of booming demand for British exports.”

The government said the new commission will have a formal role to inform parliamentarians and the public about how new FTAs are consistent with UK laws on animal welfare, animal and plant health, and the environment. Its members have expertise across the agricultural, food production, veterinary, animal welfare, environment and international trade policy sectors, among others.

The TAC’s advice will inform a government report which will be laid before parliament ahead of the ratification of any new FTA and following the signature stage.

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