Free trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand and the US present few opportunities but have the potential to undermine production standards at home, NFU Scotland warns.
In responding to the UK Government consultations on free trade negotiations with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, the union said trade with the EU should be prioritised as talks progress.
NFU Scotland believes that the Government needs to undertake a thorough consultation with the industry to identify any opportunity in these markets.
One of the main concerns is that the Government could negotiate Free Trade Agreements with countries which do not produce food to the same standards as here in the UK.
‘Undermining our own standards’
NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick said: “If the Brexit referendum decision is interpreted as ‘taking back control’ then it’s critical the UK Government doesn’t follow up Brexit by undermining our own domestic standards in a rush to sign unnecessary trade deals.
“Australia, New Zealand and the United States are significant global exporters of food and if they were given greater access to our domestic market then this would have the potential to increase food miles and damage local farm and croft incomes.
“The UK Government has cited Brexit as a clear opportunity to highlight the UK’s strong environmental and animal health credentials of our food production.
“However, this would be an empty gesture if the UK Government allowed increased imports of foods from countries where we are unable to directly legislate any changes to production standards.
“That would be equivalent to exporting our precious welfare and environmental standards overseas.
Future trade agreements with these countries may also have the potential to impact on our ability to trade freely with our customers in the European Union and this would be unacceptable.
“In 2016, the UK food and drink exports to the EU were £9.9 billion while non-EU exports were £4 billion, highlighting that more than 70% of UK food and drink exports are dependent on frictionless access to the European single market.
“This includes over 90% of our beef exports, 75% of pig meat exports and 88% of sheep meat exports.
If the Government is serious about opportunities for our food and farming sector post-Brexit then they should go back to basics and undertake thorough consultation with the sector to identify market opportunities.
“If they believe that Australia, New Zealand and the United States are the correct markets then I strongly suggest they go back to the drawing board.”
