The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has issued a response to the signing of a free trade deal between the UK and New Zealand (NZ) earlier today (Monday, February 28).
NFU president Minette Batters echoed the original sentiment of the agricultural community when the trade deal was agreed in principle last October; it is not a great deal for UK farmers.
Batters said that this deal showed she was “right to be concerned”.
“As expected, this deal takes the same approach as the UK-Australia deal in eliminating tariffs for agricultural products, meaning that even for sensitive sectors like beef and lamb, dairy and horticulture, in time there will be no limit to the amount of goods New Zealand can export to the UK,” she said.
“I have consistently pointed out that the real risk to UK farmers, and longer term for people wanting to buy British food, from the government’s approach to trade deals is not the individual deals themselves but the cumulative impact of each deal when added together.
“Once again, there appears to be extremely little in this New Zealand trade deal to benefit British farmers.
“UK farm businesses face significantly higher costs of production than farmers in New Zealand, and margins are likely to tighten further in the face of rising input costs, higher energy bills and labour shortages,” she continued.
“The government is now asking British farmers to go toe-to-toe with some of the most export-orientated farmers in the world, without the serious, long-term and properly funded investment in UK agriculture that can enable us to do so; the sort of strategic investment in farming and exports that the New Zealand government has made in recent decades.
“There remains an urgent need for government to have a coherent approach across all of its departments to focus on UK farming’s productivity, as well as recognise and remedy the contradictions within current domestic policy, which is still woefully sparse on the detail of how farmers will be supported to become competitive food producers at a time when food security is an increasingly important concern.”
NFU
NFU Scotland has also issued a response to the signing of the deal, with its president Martin Kennedy agreeing with much of what Batters had to say.
“Our fears that the process adopted by the UK government in agreeing the Australia deal would set a dangerous precedent going forward have just been realised. Having now signed off on a similar deal to grant unfettered access to New Zealand, another major food exporting nation, the cumulative impact of all such deals on farmers and crofters will be substantial,” he said.
“This latest deal offers virtually nothing to Scottish farmers and crofters in return but risks undermining our valuable lamb, beef, dairy and horticultural sectors by granting access to large volumes of imported goods.”
Deal welcomed by others
However, the deal has been welcomed by some.
Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said:
“New Zealand is a key market for UK small businesses – close to a third of smaller exporters already have ties to the nation. As such, this deal marks a great step forward, and we are pleased to see inclusion of a dedicated SME chapter that will help more small businesses from both countries to take part in international trade and, in doing so, spur our global economic recovery.
“We also welcome the important additional measures outlined as part of the agreement, not least around the streamlining of self-declaration of origin procedures and bringing more small businesses into government supply chains.”
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who signed the deal in London, also stressed that the deal will make it easier for UK businesses to trade in NZ.
“This deal will slash red tape, remove all tariffs and make it easier for our services companies to set up and prosper in New Zealand,” she said.
“Our trade with New Zealand will soar, benefiting businesses and consumers throughout the UK and helping level up the whole country,” she added.
“Like all our new trade deals, it is part of a plan to build a network of trade alliances with the most dynamic parts of the world economy, so we set the UK on a path to future prosperity.”
