Embedded Files
Farmers angry as Australian beef floods in. Meat imports surge 80pc (1st 9 months 2025) as free-trade deal sparks criticism over impact on local producers
“The UK government has reserved itself almost no recourse to managing imports if they start proving harmful to UK farm livelihoods. The Cabinet Office “watered down” previously agreed Whitehall safeguards that would have enabled ministers from other departments to push back if the DIT made concessions they considered to be too deep."
'The Deal Down Under' helps engineers but hinders farmers.
How PM Johnson sold out UK farmers over a meal with Australian PM "Your boss has already conceded the whole kingdom,” Dan Tehan, Australia’s chief negotiator, told Truss gleefully "
May 2023 Australian beef doing well ahead of trade deal doors opening "The trade agreement will allow for more Australian beef to come into the UK market tariff-free, with a tariff rate quota (TRQ) of 35,000t, rising in installments to 110,000t within 10 years of the agreement. This is substantially more than the current levels of Australian beef imports, which are around 2,500-3,00t/year according to the UK government said."
Nov 14 22. Former Environment Sec George Eustice spoke about the post-Brexit UK/Australia trade deal in the Commons.
He said: "I no longer have to put such a positive gloss on what was agreed...the Australia deal is not actually a very good trade deal for the UK...Overall the truth of the matter is that the UK gave away far too much for far too little in return. The best bits were negotiated by DEFRA and worst bits by Dept for Trade, at the time headed by Liz Truss....if we don't recognise mistakes they'll be repeated...We did not actually need to give Australia nor New Zealand full liberalisation of beef and sheep. It was not in our economic interests to do so. And neither Australia nor New Zealand had anything to offer in return for such a grand concession...In my view the best clause of this treaty we have with Australia, is the final clause, because it does gives any UK govt...an unbridled right to terminate and renegotiate the FTA at any time with just six months notice."
Bear in mind this is especially wounding given it's one of the only genuinely new post-Brexit deals we've signed. And Eustice was an avid Brexiter (ex-UKIP). He said the biggest new non-EU trade deal the UK govt has signed isn't very good (signed by Truss), accused Truss of undermining UK national interest for political reasons, and that interim Trade Perm Sec should move on.
AND Remember! Not a pound of British beef can be sold to Australia - because of their concern over BSE 20 years ago.
Following this Commons debate, MPs voted to just 'consider' the motion.
Don't forget, the government rejected the chance for MPs to vote on the trade deal.
Ministers to break promise to give MPs final say in Australia deal July 22 "Agreement will clear parliament on Wednesday under obscure behind-closed-doors process – with no debate, despite a pledge "
The government twice rejected to maintain any standards, including this one...
Trade Act UK ministers gain power to allow lower-standard food imports. Trade bill vote rejects Lords amendment giving MPs greater scrutiny of trade deals
Farmers and Food producers stand to loose £300million. "Farmers and food producers stand to lose almost 300m from the trade deal with Australia and need government help, a report by MPs says. Boris Johnson vowed to protect the sectors when seeking his first post-Brexit agreement but then overruled other cabinet ministers to strike a deal that effectively removes import tariffs immediately. Trade experts have concluded the agreement hands Australia an export boost six times greater than the UKs likely gain, estimated to be just 0.08 per cent of GDP by 2035. The estimated losses for agriculture, forestry and fishing (94m) and semi-processed foods (225m) with small gains for other food, drink and tobacco products add up to an overall deficit of 278m."
Anger setting in. Signed Dec. 17 "The NFU is furious that the deal will remove some trade protections for sensitive sectors with immediate effect. For example, Australian sheepmeat will be granted an immediate tariff-rate quota (TRQ) of 25,000t, rising in instalments to 75,000t, while beef will get a TRQ of 35,000t, rising to 110,000t. After 10 years, beef and sheep tariffs will go altogether, although a 20% tariff will be applied if volumes of imports get too big for the subsequent five years. “Despite assurances that these sectors would be afforded some level of protection, we will see full liberalisation of dairy after just six years, sugar after eight years and beef and lamb after 15 years,” said NFU president Minette Batters."
Vicki Hird, head of sustainable farming at agri-food group Sustain, said the deal betrayed consumers, farmers and the environment, pointing to the use in Australian farming of feedlots, battery cages and sow stalls. The [Australian] government permits the use of hormones and antibiotics to speed up growth as well as the removal of skin from live sheep.
Trade & Agriculture Commission advice to Secretary of State
"The FTA does not require the UK to change its existing levels of statutory protection in relation to animal or plant life or health, animal welfare, and environmental protection.
The FTA reinforces the UK’s statutory protections in the areas covered for two reasons. First, it contains environmental and animal welfare obligations that require the UK to maintain its statutory protections in the areas covered. Second, these obligations also ensure that Australia will not gain a trade advantage by lowering its standards of protection or not properly implementing its domestic laws in the areas covered.
The FTA does not otherwise affect the ability of the UK to adopt statutory protections in the areas covered. It does not restrict the UK’s WTO rights to regulate in these areas, and even enhances these rights in some respects. However, the UK is able to adopt decisions under the agreement, together with Australia, that may constrain its freedom to regulate in the future, and it important to ensure that the UK’s import control systems are properly resourced to be able to manage increased imports under the FTA." Government Report
CAR CRASH IN THE COUNTRYSIDE COMING (says NFU) - as 'farmers thrown under Brexit Bus' (says SNP)
CAR CRASH IN THE COUNTRYSIDE COMING (says NFU) - as 'farmers thrown under Brexit Bus' (says SNP)
This is the big crunch issue and is the face-off between farm versus finance and heralds way for further deals with Argentina, New Zealand, Brazil and er USA - see other Deals
UK-Australia Deal announced June 15 "Scotch whisky and confectionery will be cheaper to sell in the tariff-free agreement....British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards. We are also supporting agricultural producers to increase their exports overseas, including to new markets in the Indo-Pacific. Will help distillers by removing tariffs of up to 5% on Scotch Whisky."
The small print of the first major post-Brexit agreement – revealed by Canberra, as the UK government tried to keep it under wraps – exposed that the pledge to protect farmers for 15 years has been dropped. Tariffs are to be axed immediately. "Australian farmers will effectively be handed tariff-free access from day one. These are the figures quoted in Independent, which also says they will come immediately - not 15 years time. The 'cap' mentioned in the government press release will be 60X the present Australian meat imports - meaning that 35,000 tonnes of beef and 25,000 tonnes of lamb can come in tax free - NOW.
When challenged with this in parliament by SNP (PQT June 16) Johnson said this wasn't the time to put Scottish sheep farmers down but get behind them 'and supercharge efforts for them to export'.
@Kevin_Maguire "Who the Australia-UK trade deal benefits most is gauged from Scott Morrison (Australian PM) giving MPs a vote and publishing quota details while Boris Johnson denies Parliament a vote and is embarrassed the Aussies released info showing meat will flood into Britain at the expense of UK farmers"
And were we not promised that all deals would be checked by the 'Trade & Agriculture Commission?
Brexit cost 4.9% of GDP, Australian Trade Deal may be worth 0.02%. It is like throwing away £4.90 and risking farming for 2p.
The wine, Jacob’s Creek brand, specified by the government in its press release, is owned by Pernod Ricard, one of France’s biggest alcohol companies.
Acting Australian PM explains why deal is so good for Aussie farmers - how it will 'rack up top over 100,000 tons of beef over next 10 years - that would be around 10% of total UK beef production.
Trade minister Gregg Hands gave another blow to our environmental protections when he told Parliament that there was a good chance the Australia deal would include a mechanism to protect investors with secretive ‘corporate courts‘ - that gives right for multinationals to take the UK - to court.
Department for International Trade argues there will still be safeguards in place, "any changes will be introduced over many years. And if you look at what Australia actually sells to us at the moment, they are not taking full advantage of the allowances they already have. "
But they may begin to - as news that China putting big tariffs on Aussie meat and grain.
Conservative MP, Dehenna Davison, told BBC Radio 5 Live that cheaper meat imports from Australia "could bring down the price of a weekly shop" and "that can be seen as a good thing".
I thought that would be coming - throw cheap meat to the poor, that'll keep them quiet.
Fiona Simpson, president of Australia's National Farmers' Federation, told BBC Today programme on Radio Four, she wanted to "re-establish a very strong trade relationship with the UK, which we had before the UK joined the EU"
Number 10 played down the significance of the Cabinet meeting (May 20), insisting it was a routine update. “There are a regular series of meetings on not just this trade deal but the deals we have been working on throughout,” Johnson’s official spokesman said. But in what appeared to be a hint that Johnson had swung behind Truss, Downing Street said the prime minister was keen to “maximise the massive opportunities presented by post-Brexit trade deals”. Discussions are likely to continue in the coming days.
The direction of travel looks like the removal of tariffs will take place over 15 years. Australia want 5 yrs. BJ says it is an 'opportunity' for British farmers - to export their meat 10,000 miles. He has yet to explain how that works.
British voters oppose Australian deal. Poll " reported that 61 per cent of people want British farmers to get priority, with only 20 per cent agreeing that new trade deals were more important.
Truss 'GUARANTEES that hormone-injected beef will remain banned under new Australia trade deal as she says she is ‘fully confident’ UK farmers will be able to compete amid fears of being undercut by cheap imports"
Remember! this deal is primarily about tariffs and quotas - not standards - which this government has gone out of its way to NOT Guarantee.
The Times says the government should take on the farmers more imported food would mean less home-produced food that has damaged environment so much. EU is planning to tax imports of GHG emitters.
The Economist supports the deal. It would, wouldn't as it was founded on 'free trade' But says it "lacks transparency",
'Own It', as Remainers " rage as Brexiteer moans about ‘appalling’ Australia trade deal. Isabel Oakeshott - a prominent Brexiteer - wrote that the post-Brexit deal with Australia would be a "death knell" for British farming.. Writing in the Daily Mail on Saturday, Isabel Oakeshott said that the post-Brexit deal – touted by Boris Johnson and his ministers as a blueprint of Britain’s buccaneering, free-trading future outside the EU – would “signal the death knell for the traditional British farm”. Dear Isabel, What did you think was going to happen when you advocated 'Brexit'? You should have read my book!
Standards
Standards
A few of the agricultural practices which are banned in the UK but are currently legal in Australia which we will now allow in as imports with the deal
Growth-promoting hormones in beef cattle
Ractopamine, a growth-promoting hormone in pigs
Neonicotinoids – which cause harm to bees – used on rape seed crops
Insecticides Dimethoate and Fipronil
Chlorinated chicken
The British government is locked in a “ferocious” internal battle over whether to sign off a trade deal with Australia after a split between the department of agriculture and the department of international trade over the terms of the agreement. The government announced in April that it was in a “sprint” to finalise the deal by June ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, which Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison has been invited to attend as a guest. People briefed on the internal discussions said Liz Truss, international trade secretary, regarded the issue as a “crunch point”. One government official said: “Liz argues that if you can’t get a good trade deal with Australia, who can you get one with?” But she is meeting stiff opposition from George Eustice, the environment secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, who have warned of the political fallout from a zero-tariff deal".
Pesticides
Pesticides
While on the subject of standards. Australian standards for pesticides They still allow food with residues of Chlorpyrifos- shown to negatively affect cognitive development of foetus and young children. Apples can contain 100 x more Malathion. An insecticide linked to cancer and endocrine disrupters interfering with hormones which can lead to birth defects. 144 highly hazardous pesticides authorised for use compared with 73 in the UK (via EU!). Allows use of chemicals damaging to bees such as Fipronil - and neonicotinoids - which Gove promised would stay under a moratorium in UK, as in EU. Use chemicals such as diuron and simazine which are extremely harmful to aquatic ecosystems. Still use Paraquat, banned in the UK for 15 years and in over 40 countries. Still using 33 organophosphates which are particularly toxic to humans, whereas only 4 are approved for use in the UK for certain specific purposes. When chemicals are approved for use in Australia, they have no review period so can remain indefinitely if not challenged. In the UK, all chemicals have to be reviewed every 15 years.
More than 30 active substances are permitted for use on sugar cane that are illegal in the UK including paraquat, a weedkiller banned by the EU in 2007.
Animal welfare
Animal welfare
Here the difference is even starker. "The Animal Protection Index exists to keep track of each country’s record on animal welfare. The UK is currently rated ‘B’ overall, and is near the top of the international league table. Australia, on the other hand, is rated ‘D’, and gets an even worse grade (an ‘E’) when it comes to protecting animals used in farming. On nine out of ten indicators, the UK has substantially better animal welfare protections than Australia. "
You can tell that British farmers will be betrayed by Boris Johnson by the way he promises to look after them. The prime minister likes to be the giver of good news, and will satisfy that appetite (in himself and his audience) sooner than serve unpalatable truth.
RSPCA warns "that Australia’s trade deal will cause unacceptable atrocities in Britain and betray the public.
It means the UK buys products of practices that it considers too cruel to carry out in the UK. Animal welfare charities have warned that tariff-free access to the UK will give the country a “betrayal of the people, farmers and animals” and could retreat Animal welfare In decades.
Other activists say the deal will undermine the government’s review of animal welfare legislation. And it was announced by the Minister at the Great Fanfare as “The Greatest Shakeups and Standards for Generations”. Boris Johnson Clarified After a question revealed that he supported signing an agreement with Australia, it became clear that the “furious” line was furious about whether to choose it in the cabinet. Animal welfare organizations are scared of the outlook for the deal, as Australia’s legal standards for animal welfare are much lower than in the United Kingdom.
10X Increase in beef imports
10X Increase in beef imports
Australia’s biggest cattle farmer has predicted that the nation’s beef exports to the UK could rise as much as tenfold if the two countries strike a free-trade deal. Hugh Killen, the chief executive of the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo), said on a financial results call this week: “We are looking forward to the conclusion of free-trade negotiations with the UK.” He told the Financial Times that a free-trade deal that removes tariffs and quotas could lead to Australian beef exports doubling or tripling, or even a tenfold increase, because exports are small at the moment. AACo manages a cattle herd of 400,000, on 6.4m hectares of farmland – equal to 1% of Australia’s land mass. It specialises in grain fed and Wagyu beef.
The UK imported 560 tonnes of beef and veal worth £4.1m from Australia last year, as well as 8,500 tones of lamb and mutton worth £45.8m.
In 2019-20, trade in goods and services between Australia and the UK was valued at £20.1bn, and both sides are hoping to expand this amount considerably. Currently, trade in meat between the two countries is very small. Approximately only 0.15% of all Australian beef exports go to the UK. The figure is higher for sheep meat imports to the UK. Last year, 14% came from Australia.
Billed as the trade deal to be an ‘exemplar’ for other countries in June, and that it could happen within weeks of Brexit, by mid August there was no sign of a deal. Latest
"Australia will seek improved market access for our goods exports, including agricultural products, through the elimination of tariffs, quotas and non-tariff barriers under the FTA.
Australian agricultural exports to the UK have been relatively low since the UK joined the EU, due to the high tariffs and other trade barriers the UK imposed as a member of the EU. While it is unlikely we will return to pre-EU volumes of agricultural trade with the UK, as Australian agricultural exporters have since diverted their trade to other markets especially in Asia, the opening of more choices is important for our primary producers"
August 2025
Australia Deal theatens UK farming "Australia has already made it clear that they will challenge Britain’s ban on hormone-infused beef, in order to allow for the free flow of its agricultural products. "
Australia rejects trade deal with UK as it does not want a brain drain.
Beet farmers talk of perfect storm after Brexit because of trade deals like this. There is also the matter of tariff changes on raw sugar
Truss & Frost
Truss & Frost
The deal risks inflaming arguments over Scottish and Welsh independence because the likely impact of zero-tariff imports of Australian lamb and beef will land hardest in rural areas such as Scottish and Welsh hill farms. Gove, a former UK environment minister who, when in office, pledged that UK farmers would be protected by tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit, is sensitive to the questions raised by Brexit over the future of the UK. On closer inspection the examples she gives for opening up exports are mainly to do with textiles - and finance. In 2019 the UK was the second largest direct investor in Australia and the second largest recipient of Australian foreign direct investment. "Further investment should be expected following a deal"
One ally of Gove said: “Everyone is supporting Liz to get a great deal.” Truss is saying that if she cannot negotiate about these tariffs in this deal, there will be no further deals. Chief trade negotiator David Frost also favours a no-tariff deal that 'would lower costs for consumers'.
Truss the trade secretary said "a deal with Australia would benefit farmers across the UK by opening up a key market while also paving the way for growth in exports across Asia. She promised that the government would protect British farmers from overseas importers using 'unfair practices' to undercut them in the domestic market. " In Australia they do not need 'unfair practices' to undermine British farming. They have massive ranches in good climate. where they do not nurse lambs in sheds, but let them get on with it.
NFU
NFU
The FARMERS' union (NFU) warned of a "car crash in the countryside" if the UK pushed ahead with a wide zero-tariff trade deal with Australia which could mean the end of many farmers who can not compete. Do not betray NFU President Minette Batters, speaking alongside the NFU's leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at a hastily-called press conference, "appeared to corroborate those reports, telling reporters Eustice supported the organisation's position and that farmers needed Truss' Department for International Trade (DIT) to "stick" to its red lines.
She put pressure on Johnson to protect farmers, saying ultimately "it will very much come down to the Prime Minister to decide whether the government honours that commitment". Batters said she had been led to believe Cabinet ministers would be asked to sign off a decision on how to proceed in talks with Australia this week. This refers to the Trade & Agriculture Commission (TAC) that was set up to check any deals regarding standards. However 'tariffs' are NOT about standards. They are about money.
Batters
Batters
The government in April said it would "sprint" to clinch a trade deal with Australia before the G7 summit in June, where Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to attend. Batters said speeding up talks looked like "quite a smart negotiating tactic" by Australia as it would rush the UK's less experienced negotiators into a decision on the thorny issue of agriculture, and make the government caving in to Canberra's demands more likely.
"If you've taken back control, you've taken back control to get the right deal regardless of timelines and throughout we've seen the government back itself against a wall by putting a timeline in place," the NFU boss said. Batters said removing tariffs for Australia would pave the way for other countries, like the US, to be given the same access to the UK's markets, and make British farmers even more vulnerable. "If you capitulate in the first deal and offer totally open access, you will be forced to do that with others, and don't forget these (Australians not British!) are very aggressive and very experienced agricultural negotiators.
What is very 'ironic' about this is that Gove & Eustice were Brexiteers .
Eustice is an ex-UKIPPER.
Gove of course knew about the collision course. Here he is at Oxford Farming Conference with McKinney US trade envoy
While Liz Truss as Chief Secretary to the Treasury voted to 'Remain' "because I was concerned about the economy "
Frost led UK in EU trade trade talks and has admitted they underestimated impact on NI trade.
Otto dissects it better "While the rise in UK exports to Australia will be fairly negligible, the boost in trade the other way could be as much as 83%. Australia is the second-largest producer of beef and lamb in the world and the UK is a ready-made export market, ripe for exploitation."
Johnson
Johnson
Boris backing deal Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes Australia should be offered a free trade deal with the UK, despite fears domestic farmers could be hit by price competition from overseas. Johnson will back plans to offer Australian food exporters the same terms as those enjoyed by the European Union.
Boris Johnson has hailed the “massive opportunity” of a tariff-free trade deal with Australia
Ferocious row brewing "Ministers are divided over whether to sign off a trade deal with Australia after the department of agriculture and the department of internal trade could not come to an agreement on the terms. "
Johnson seeks "to broker a Cabinet truce on the issue at a meeting on Thursday (May 17), He is determined to secure an agreement with Australia to make good on his claim that Brexit would unlock a series of trade deals. Downing Street insisted on May 15 that a deal would “include protections for the agriculture industry and won’t undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards”.
But this deal is NOT about standards but about tariffs.
Daily express says: ' Standards will not be lowered. Prime Minister's official spokesman said. 'We want a deal that is good for the British public and any agreement would have protection for the agriculture industry.' But the spokesman refused to be drawn on what the measures to protect farmers would be, insisting he would not comment on the ongoing negotiations.
SNP
SNP
SNP warn Brexit trade deal will sacrifice Scottish farming for zero tariff deal on Australian meat imports. With the SNP breathing down their necks some cabinet Ministers, led by Scot Michael Gove and Environment Secretary George Eustice, are digging in against the deal because of the implications for the Union. Scottish National party MP Jim Fairlie, said: “Granting tariff-free access to farming produce would completely betray the promises that have been made by countless Tory ministers and prove that Boris Johnson is willing to sacrifice the interests of Scotland’s farmers and producers to satisfy his Brexiter cabinet.” BJ prepared to throw farmers and crofters under Brexit bus BJ responded saying "that an agreement with Australia would be a 'massive opportunity' for UK farmers.
Ministers said any UK trade deal with Australia must not disadvantage Welsh farmers. “Farmers and food producers play a crucial role in our society, economy and environment," said Wales' new economy minister Vaughan Gething. "We are a country of small farmers," said NFU Cymru president Mr Davies. "It's absolutely vital that our ambition to lead around the subjects of standards, climate change and welfare-friendly food are not undercut. "This trade deal will set the bar for future trade deals, so it's incredibly important that we get this right." The NFU presidents warned that Wales and the other devolved areas of the UK would be hit hardest by any tariff-free trade deal because they were the most reliant on agriculture.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
"The UK-Australia trade deal, now in a decisive stage of negotiation, raises fundamental Brexit issues for Northern Ireland that have yet to even register in political debate. There has been no evident public discussion about swapping Northern Ireland’s farms for factories. NI could export on the same terms as the rest of the UK but goods from Australia would be obstructed at the sea border for various reasons, including tariff and regulatory differences. Most notably, there would be a complete ban on Australia’s hormone-treated beef and other agrifood not meeting European Union health standards. This could result in a best of both worlds, at least from a Trumpesque perspective, where Northern Ireland could sell food to Australia but Australia could not sell food to Northern Ireland.
It seems certain Australia will want to address this, although it is uncertain how. Excluding regional products from a deal may not be practical or lawful. There is clearly a great deal of hope in London and Belfast that potential trade partners will simply write off food sales to Northern Ireland as too small to scupper a UK agreement overall. We will know soon enough, as negotiations with New Zealand, even more focused on agrifood, are also at an advanced stage."
Those is favour of a deal claim that food and wine prices in UK supermarkets will go down as barriers to imports are done away with - but the existing tariffs would be 'tapered out slowly' so British farmers could adjust.
My Comments
My Comments
If this deal goes through it will be sold as 'cheaper for consumers'. Some will even say it will 'help the poor'.
It will not. It will make it cheaper to make a profit - just as the Repeal of the Corn Laws was about 'cheaper bread' so industrialists could pay their workers less. We are the fattest country in Western Europe, eat the most ultra-processed food, and this deal will nothing but make that worse.
We must invest in our own food production in ways that circulate money linking rural and local urban economies thereby generating wealth for ourselves. The market driven 'deals' will benefit a lot of people around the world gambling on food prices, and do nothing to help feed our poor decent food - instead of over a million being dependent on food banks.
We need an alliance of groups - a groundswell - to challenge these 'mad marketeers'.
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