BORIS JOHNSON has bundled a new trade deal with New Zealand over the line, once again evading scrutiny by the promised – but as yet non-functioning – Statutory Trade and Agriculture Commission intended to protect UK farmers from unfair international competition.
Farmers' leaders across the UK have condemned the NZ deal as offering 'nothing' that will benefit UK agriculture, whilst opening our borders to 'significant extra volumes' of imported food, whether or not it is produced to the same high standards required of our own farmers.
The UK Government's international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan suggested that British sheep farmers should not be concerned about an increase in NZ lamb imports, because its lambing season was different from the UK and its production cycle was therefore 'complimentary' and would offer consumers more choice.
But NFU Scotland could not disguise its outrage over being 'shut out' of negotiations that have already granted 'a major exporting nation unfettered access to the UK'. Coupled with the Australian deal signed in June, the NZ deal would, it warned, open UK borders to huge volumes of imported food, and threaten the viability of Scottish farmers and crofters.
Union president Martin Kennedy said: “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 put in place 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.  
“This latest deal offers virtually nothing to Scottish farmers and crofters in return but risks undermining our valuable lamb, dairy and horticultural sectors by granting access to large volumes of imported goods that could be produced in farming systems not currently permitted here," said Mr Kennedy.
“As with the Australian deal, there is to be a cap on tariff-free imports from New Zealand for 15 years," he noted. "That is merely a slow journey to allow New Zealand, a major exporter of food and drink, unfettered access to food and drink UK markets. Once again, this is a deal that has not been afforded the appropriate level of scrutiny and consultation and has been agreed in advance of the promised statutory Trade and Agriculture Commission being established. 
“The Department for International Trade has repeated its claim that there will be safeguards for UK producers within such deals without ever identifying what those safeguards would be," said Mr Kennedy. "That is why parliamentarians must be given the opportunity to examine the Australian and New Zealand deals, and any future deals with the likes of the USA, Canada and Mexico, with Government also carrying out a detailed impact assessment on what all such deals may mean for the agriculture and food sectors."
Mr Kennedy stressed that his position was not entirely protectionist: “We are ambitious to identify and grasp opportunities to build our industry and wider economy and our reputation for world class produce. Trade deals could be an enabler of this, but it is going to require investment and collaboration between UK Government and the industry; collaboration which does not exist at present.
“The reality is that as the Government drives a new open trading environment, it is increasingly imposing rules on us that make the industry less competitive," he said. "The current failure to meaningfully address the critical shortage of labour across the whole food supply chain is a good case in point.”   
English NFU president Minette Batters was equally unimpressed  with the UK Government's headlong rush to secure post-Brexit trade deals: We should all be worried that there could be a huge downside to these deals, especially for sectors such as dairy, red meat and horticulture.
“The fact is that UK farm businesses face significantly higher costs of production than farmers in New Zealand and Australia, and it’s worth remembering that margins are already tight here due to ongoing labour shortages and rising costs on farm," said Ms Batters.
"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. This is the sort of strategic investment in farming and exports that Australian and New Zealand governments have made in recent decades. There needs to be a coherent approach across government to bolster UK farming’s productivity.
She added: “It’s incredibly worrying that we’ve heard next to nothing from government about how it will work with farming to achieve this. This is why it is very, very difficult for the NFU to show any support for these deals. They involve significant upsides for farmers on the other side of the world who can now access our hugely valuable market but contain little discernible benefit for UK producers, either at home or overseas. This could damage the viability of many British farms in the years ahead, to the detriment of the public, who want more British food on their shelves, and to the detriment of our rural communities and cherished farmed landscapes."
The National Sheep Association said that it was 'deeply disappointed' about the NZ deal, and concerned for its future impact on the UK sheep sector.
It highlighted the detail of the agreement, which gives New Zealand the go ahead to export an additional 35,000 tonnes of sheep meat during the first four years, and a further 50,000 tonnes from year five. This is in addition to the existing tariff-rate quota held as part of the WTO agreement that already allows New Zealand to export 114,000 tonnes to the UK each year. 
Then, the new agreement will see all quotas removed by year 15, meaning New Zealand will have tariff and duty free access for unlimited supplies of sheep meat product to be exported to the UK .
NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “For all the warm words we’ve heard from our Government this news is highly disappointing, even though I’d say it’s no surprise. You only have to see the statements being made by the red meat sector in New Zealand for evidence they intend to send more and more sheep meat in our direction, and this in addition to the increase in access by Australia means together, in just over a decade, these two countries will have access to our entire volume of lamb consumption. 
“Although the Government has long made its intentions clear over trade liberalisation the one thing they have promised us is protection of the high standards of production, environmental protection and animal welfare that British farmers adhere to," said Mr Stocker. "But here, in the agreement in principle, in black and white, the get-out clause is clear for all to see – recognition that New Zealand and the UK’s farming systems are different but provide comparable outcomes.” 
NSA expressed frustration that the deal so easily dismissed differences in the countries’ farming standards, meaning requirements for criteria such as journey times– that are seen as of upmost importance in the UK – will just be ignored. Similarly, NSA believes that Rules of Origin will ease the way for more imported ingredients to be used in multi-ingredient foods, without the buyer being aware of what they are eating.
Mr Stocker continued: “The worry continues that Government is content to wind down livestock farming in the UK, to fulfil climate commitments and grand images of high standards – and then scour the world to feed our nation from sources that are out of sight. To me this shows our future can only be in our hands – it is down to us to promote British lamb and mutton to our domestic market, a market that currently takes over 65% of our production, in a way that works for us.”
Speaking from the Institute of Livestock Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, Neil Wilson suggested that the UK government should be signing deals that position us as strategic exporters – not as importers undermining our own producers. 
“Our Scottish lamb and beef producers are under huge pressure to reduce CO2 emissions yet this agreement actively endorses using high levels of energy in refrigerated transport from the other side of the world. UK beef and lamb producers are also already competing on retail shelves before this lowering of tariffs, and this will only make it more difficult to remain competitive when access is given to large volumes of beef and lamb that cost less to produce and, arguably, from farming systems not currently permitted here.
“There seems to be more to gain from this deal for the New Zealand farmers than our own. We welcome the establishment of the TAC and it needs to be allowed to fulfil its role to promote and protect the future of Scotland and the UK as a high quality and commercially successful food producing nation. 
“We also call on Scottish Government to ensure that policy change includes measures to protect our family farming businesses from unbalanced trade deals whilst allowing them to produce food, reduce emissions and protect the environment.”
Spokesperson for the Westminster opposition, shadow trade secretary Emily Thornberry said the government's own figures suggested that the deal would cut employment in farming communities, whilst producing zero additional growth for the UK economy, and generating just £112m in additional exports for UK firms compared to pre-pandemic levels.
"As our economy recovers from the pandemic, we need trade deals that will boost jobs and growth, open up big new markets for UK exporters, and support our objectives to buy, make and sell more in Britain," said Ms Thornberry. "This trade deal with New Zealand fails on every count."
The main beneficiaries, she added, would be "the mega-corporations who run New Zealand's meat and dairy farms".
Henry Dimbleby, the food writer and restaurant entrepreneur who led the UK Government's latest 'food strategy' initiative, described the trade deal announcement as 'disappointing' and said the government was 'ignoring his advice' to ensure trade deals do not open the UK up to cheap imports from other countries that have been produced with higher environmental impacts and C02 emissions, and lower animal welfare. 
"There is no point in creating a food and farming system here that looks after animals, sequesters carbon, and supports biodiversity, if overseas products on our shelves don’t do the same," said Mr Dimbleby. "Australia and NZ are the edge of the problem – Brazil and the US are huge problems. We need to pray the Prime Minister and Secretary for State live up to their election manifesto to protect food standards before it’s too late.”
Former Conservative Agriculture Minister and Chair of the Climate Change Committee, Lord Deben, was more blunt: “The New Zealand trade deal is a disgrace. It is not acceptable and it is completely at odds with everything the government has promised to do to safeguard our farmers and protect UK consumers. We are looking for sustainability not unsustainable trade deals.”
 Gordon MP Richard Thomson commented that the NZ deal had not been negotiated 'with the interests of Scotland’s farmers and food and drink producers in mind'.
“The UK Conservative Government supposedly ‘took back control’ of our borders post-Brexit, but all that’s happened is tighter restrictions on our exports and no corresponding checks on what it is prepared to allow to come in – something which is fast becoming a disaster for our domestic food producers," said the SNP MP.
“New Zealand is of course famous for its food and drink, particularly lamb and dairy products. In Scotland, we value our high standards of animal welfare and production, but this trade deal allows imports from New Zealand which may not aspire to the same standards and which will compete directly with home-produced items, to say nothing of the food miles involved."
Quality Meat Scotland Chief Executive, Alan Clarke, commented: “The trade agreement between the UK and New Zealand could have a serious impact on Scotland’s red meat industry - particularly our beef producers.
“Compared to current conditions for beef, the deal represents a significant increase in New Zealand beef producers’ market access and, with farmgate prices in Scotland 25-30% higher than in New Zealand, this leaves Scottish farmers open to considerable competition," he warned.
“This is the second major post-Brexit trade agreement and the cumulative increase in market access poses a longer-term risk. The recent appointment of Quality Meat Scotland Chair, Kate Rowell, to the UK Trade and Agriculture Commission is an important step to promote and protect the interests of Scotland’s red meat industry in future trade deals.”
Speaking from Dairy UK, chief executive Dr Judith Bryans said: “Make no mistake, this trade deal is a blow for UK dairy. This Agreement will see tariffs eliminated over five years and with its lower production costs, New Zealand will be able to seize its opportunity to grow an unlimited market share for its dairy products here in the UK. 
“While it is true this agreement comes with export opportunities for agriculture and UK dairy companies, the UK market is many times bigger than that of New Zealand and offers more opportunities to the agricultural sector there. 
 “At a time when the UK dairy sector is, quite rightfully, challenging itself to continuously raise its own sustainability credentials, when it is already one of the most sustainable in the world, this deal – like the one with Australia – will reduce our control over the environmental footprint of UK food consumption," warned Dr Bryans. "There’s absolutely no reason to assume this won’t continue to happen in further trade agreements either."
She suggested that, in its haste to strike agreements, the UK Government was leaving its own agricultural industry 'vulnerable and massively undervalued': "Long term, there’s a real risk that British agriculture will shrink, gambled away for little return. We could become overly dependent on imports as a result of a shrinking ag sector, with domestic food production capabilities undermined. 
“Once these businesses are gone, it will not be easy to rebuild them. We are not opposed to trade deals; we welcome mutual opportunities, but we are opposed to agricultural being traded away."
The UK Government released a video of the deal being struck, showing Mr Johnson using rugby terminology to describe the negotiation: "We've scrummed down, we've packed tight, and together we've got the ball over the line and we have a deal. And I think it's a great deal."
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responded "I loved your use of rugby metaphors, but if we were going to continue that on, then naturally it would conclude with the All Blacks winning."