THE SNP have demanded that the UK Government publishes details of the promised protections for farmers and food standards in the UK-Australia trade deal agreement.
Deidre Brock MP challenged UK Government ministers to set out those safeguards but was told that MPs will get “the details as they emerge in the course of this year”.
Sustain, which represents more than 100 food and farming organisations, also warned: “Coming into regulatory alignment with Australia would put the UK’s precautionary approach on products such as pesticides at risk, as well as potentially lowering the standard of nutritional information on food packaging.”
It added that there is real concern that the impact of the trade deal “on health has not been fully assessed, as well as the economic impact on UK farm businesses. Australian farmers would effectively have an unfair advantage over UK farmers”.
Brock said: “Australia has set out some details of the trade deal as it sees it, but the UK Government tells us to wait and see. You have to assume that the Tories actually know what’s in the deal, so you have to wonder what they want to hide.
“This deal puts our farmers and other food producers at risk of being undercut on price by lower standard imports, not just from Australia but also from the countries being lined up for trade deals like the US, Argentina and Brazil. It also puts the food standards in our shops at risk. We can’t wait for details; we need answers and clarity now.
“The longer the Tories dodge scrutiny, the clearer it is that they won’t protect businesses or consumers. Their obsession with getting any trade deal at any cost is a result of their Brexit fixation and we will feel the damaging effects.”
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