NFU in warning to government over trade deal with Australia

National Farmers Union president Minette Batters - Credit: Sonya Duncan

British farming will struggle to compete if zero-tariff trade on lamb and beef goes ahead with a post-Brexit trade deal with Australia, the president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said.

A split has emerged within cabinet over the prospect of such an agreement, with environment secretary George Eustice and cabinet office minister Michael Gove arguing there could be political fallout from the move.

Following a meeting of the UK Farming Roundtable, which includes 19 farming bodies, NFU president Minette Batters said: “The government’s repeated commitments to safeguard our own standards and to not undercut UK farmers through unfair competition are encouraging, and we support their ambition to liberalise trade. We know that if we’re to open up the opportunities of new markets overseas for UK farmers, we will have to offer greater access to our own markets in return.

“However, this trade-off needs to be balanced, and we need to make sure concessions to our hugely valuable home market are not given away lightly. There is a very real risk that, if we get it wrong, UK farming will suffer irreversible damage rather than flourish in the way we all desire, to the detriment of our environment, our food security and our rural communities.”

She said any trade deals should “showcase our credentials as a global leader in animal welfare standards, environmental protection and taking action to tackle climate change”.

But she warned: “The British government faces a choice. It must recognise that opening up zero-tariff trade on all imports of products such as beef and lamb means British farming, working to its current high standards, will struggle to compete.”

International trade secretary Liz Truss and the UK’s Brexit negotiator David Frost are said to favour zero tariffs for Australian farmers.

Labour said British farmers would expect Truss to protect their livelihoods.

Shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry said: “If Liz Truss cannot negotiate a trade deal with Australia on the terms she herself proposed last year, the fault lies squarely at her door.

“So instead of blaming her cabinet colleagues or the National Farmers’ Union for these difficulties, she should get on with her job, and deliver the deal that she promised.

“It’s perfectly normal that the Australian government should try to get the best possible deal for its agricultural mega-corporations.

“But British family farmers have a right to expect that Liz Truss will do the same for them, not sell out their livelihoods for the price of a quick trade deal, and a cheap headline at the G7 summit.”