The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Anger over admission on Australia trade deal
The Scottish Government has voiced its ‘anger and frustration’ over this week’s parliamentary statement by former Defra Secretary, George Eustice, that the UK’S post-brexit trade agreement with Australia was ‘not actually a very good deal’.
Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeone has already written to current Defra Secretary, Therese Coffey, to express her ‘anger’ at the revelation by Mr Eustice and her ‘frustration’ that the Scottish Government had been ‘shut out’ of the UK/ Australia trade talks at the time the agreement was being discussed.
“The points made in parliament were the same ones we highlighted to the UK Government throughout this whole process,” said Ms Gougeon.
“We knew it was rushed and we knew it didn’t seek to protect producers in Scotland. To see all of that outlined in parliament this week and to know it was just ignored for the sake of signing a deal within a specific timeframe is really frustrating.
“Ultimately it is our producers who will suffer.”
Asked if this proved agriculture was often at the bottom of the list in these sort of trade negotiations, she said it ‘certainly seems like that’ in this case.
“George Eustice saying that he fought the corner means very little to people now that the deal has been agreed,” she added.
“It’s also not just this trade deal that is important but the fact that it sets precedence for other deals further down the line.
“We’re not against trade deals as such but we have our own set of principles to adhere to in their negotiation. This also shows why we need to be included in the decisions that are taken.”
NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy added that the UK Government’s track record on post-brexit
free trade agreements to date is one of ‘failure’.
“It has failed to protect Scottish farming interests, failed to properly engage with stakeholders and failed to provide parliament with proper scrutiny on such deals once agreed,” he said.
“Post-brexit trade deals with major agricultural and manufacturing economies like Australia and New Zealand have seen our agricultural interests and access to our food and drink sector used as cheap bargaining chips to secure what is seen as more
lucrative market access for other sectors.
“There has been little or nothing in such trade deals for Scottish food or farming and the fact that a former Defra Secretary of State has recognised how damaging the agreements have been must be a wake-up call.”
Mr Kennedy added that, with the Australia and New Zealand deals now completed, attention will turn to India and Canada, among others.
“Domestic producers are being increasingly exposed to being undermined by growing volumes of
produce derived from very different agricultural systems that operate with very different cost structures with little in return,” he said.
“This is something both Defra and the DIT must address in the future.”
Mr Eustice also revealed in his parliamentary statement that the ultimate backstop for trade deals which weren’t working was for a get-out clause to be triggered, giving the trade partner six months’ notice of the ending of the deal, an option which remains on the table.