Unforeseen trade barriers with Australia surface since the deal was signed
British farmers and manufacturers are discovering the hidden shortcomings of the new free trade agreements that our government has been negotiating over the past few years. Farmers Weekly journalist Michael Priestly has been delving further into the barriers to trade that were inadvertently written into the Australian deal and quotes AHDB’s Phil Hadley on how the approval process to rectify it (by requesting access for British beef into the Aussie market) could take between 3 and 5 years.
In his letter to Kemi Badenoch (PDF), Nick Allen, CEO of BMPA, proposed a solution which we would strongly urge the Government to also consider during future trade negotiations. He says that government should request “that Australia reciprocate and allow the import of UK beef and lamb without preconditions. If needed this can be done on the basis of pre-listing, allowing trade to commence with audits taking place later and regularly thereafter in the normal manner”.
