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Farmers concerned by deal between Australia and UK

FARMERS raised concerns on the free-trade deal with Australia yesterday over the lack of details on animal-welfare provisions and environmental standards.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the deal with Australia, the first to be negotiated from scratch since Brexit, was “good news” for services and manufacturers in Britain.

He said British products such as cars, Scotch whisky and confectionery are set to be cheaper to sell to Australia because of the tariff-free agreement.

Mr Johnson and his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, announced the agreement yesterday despite concerns from British farmers that they could be undercut by cut-price imports.

Industry leaders have also spoken out over possible compromises on food standards: Britain has a ban on producing and importing hormone-treated beef, which is permitted in Australia.

Details of the deal have so far been sparse, with the announcement by Downing Street lacking specifics on when the agreement comes into force and what other sectors are set to benefit.

Farm bosses’ organisation the National Farmers’ Union’s president Minette Batters said in a statement: “While the government has previously been keen to highlight how our free-trade agreements will uphold our high standards of food production, there has always been a question mark over how this can be achieved while opening up our markets to food produced to different standards.

“We will need to know more about any provisions on animal welfare and the environment to ensure our high standards of production are not undermined by the terms of this deal.

“The ultimate test of this trade deal will be whether it contributes to moving farming across the world onto a more sustainable footing or whether it instead undermines UK farming and merely exports the environmental and animal welfare impact of the food we eat.”

The government “must step up and work with” British farming to improve its competitiveness in a global market, Ms Batters urged.

SNP environment, food and rural affairs spokeswoman Deidre Brock said it remained unclear whether the government has negotiated any meaningful protections to prevent Scottish farmers being undercut on the price and standards of beef, lamb and other produce, and warned the agreement could have “worrying implications” for future trade deals.

Mr Johnson claimed the trade agreement will adhere to the “strongest possible” animal-welfare standards and said it is a prelude to more free-trade deals with other countries.

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