Inquiry launches into post-Brexit international trade deals
A cross-party parliamentary inquiry begins today on the impact the government’s post-Brexit trade policy has had, and will have, on food producers, consumers and businesses in the UK.
Since leaving the EU, the government has signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Australia and New Zealand. It has also either signed or is negotiating further agreements with the free trading bloc known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Canada, the Gulf Cooperation Council (a grouping of six middle eastern countries headquartered in Saudi Arabia) and India.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee is launching its inquiry, UK trade policy: food and agriculture to:
- assess the strategic and economic coherence of the government’s approach to international trade;
- weigh the positive and negative impacts of agreements made so far and the opportunities and risks of those to come;
- explore the role trade policy should play in protecting and improving standards for food, animal welfare and environmental protections; and
- consider the impact government trade policy has had, and will potentially have, on the security, quality and affordability of the UK’s food supply.
The Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Sir Robert Goodwill, said:
“In principle free trade is a positive thing – it’s a rising tide that floats all vessels.
“But it’s also important to be cautious. We need to balance the advantages of agreements against their disadvantages, particularly when it comes to agriculture and food.
“We need to look into how a particular deal might affect consumers, farmers and food processors. And we need to be aware of how the various deals interact with each other – what their cumulative impact is on the food and farming sector”.
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UK Parliament
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