NZ trade deal: MPs call for analysis of risk to UK food security
The International Trade Committee today calls for an analysis of potential risks to the UK’s food security arising from the New Zealand trade deal.
In a new report on the UK’s trade agreement with New Zealand, the cross-party Committee of MPs raises concerns over the elimination of tariffs on New Zealand goods and the impact of opening UK agri-food markets to cheaper imports.
Much of New Zealand’s beef, sheep-meat and dairy are cheaper than those produced in the UK due to lower production costs.
With the Government’s impact assessment predicting that the UK’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and semi-processed food sectors could contract due to increased competition, the Committee questions whether the pros and cons of tariff liberalisation have been fully considered.
While concluding that, on balance, the agreement should be ratified, the Committee outlines that it presents few new opportunities for UK exporters, and suggests more export opportunities or greater safeguards for the sector could have been negotiated.
The MPs criticise the absence of a single, unifying Government trade strategy and call for the publication of a clearly defined vision for trade, showing how it balances different priorities in the best interests of consumers and businesses. The Government’s approach to negotiating new deals is characterised as reactive and hasty, and not joined-up across departments. The Committee notes that current Treasury plans to raise taxes on higher-alcohol content beverages could negate measures in the agreement aimed at reducing the price of New Zealand wines.
The Committee also expresses shock that the UK is signing trade deals without thoroughly understanding how they interact with the Northern Ireland Protocol. MPs call on the Government to provide reassurance on how agreements between the UK, the EU and New Zealand will interact so that Northern Ireland can benefit from the trade deal in the same way as the rest of the UK.
The report calls for MPs to be given the opportunity to debate the agreement during the Parliamentary scrutiny period, with the ability to show their support, or otherwise, for it through a vote.
UK Parliament
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