Eustice urges Government to learn lessons from Australia trade deal
Former Defra Secretary George Eustice has launched a blistering attack on former Prime Minister and International Trade Secretary Liz Truss over her handling of the Australian trade deal.
The deal included giving Australia or New Zealand full access to the UK market to the beef and sheep market, albeit phased in over 15 years. Yet Australia still bans the import of British beef and there was virtually nothing in return for UK farmers. The Government estimated the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, signed on 17 December 2021, would unlock £10.4bn of additional trade while ending tariffs on all UK exports to Australia.
While pork was not a part of the deal, with Australia not being significant exporters, the fear within the pig industry was that could set a dangerous precedent in future trade deals.
Mr Eustice, who was sacked by Mrs Truss when she became Prime Minister, told a Commons debate that it was a bad deal for the UK, especially its farmers, and stressed that lessons need to be learned as the UK negotiates future deals.
“Unless we recognise the failures that the Department for International Trade made during the Australia negotiations, we won’t be able to learn the lessons of future negotiations,” he said.
“The first step is to recognise that the Australia trade deal is not actually a very good deal for the UK.”
by Alistair Driver / Pig World
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