Correspondence

Trade and Agriculture Commission commissioning letter: request for advice on UK-Australia FTA (17 December 2021)

Published 17 December 2021

The Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP Secretary of State for International Trade
Department for International Trade
Old Admiralty Building
London
SW1A 2DY

Professor Lorand Bartels
Chair
Trade and Agriculture Commission

17 December 2021

Dear Lorand,

Trade and Agriculture Commission commissioning letter: request for advice on UK-Australia FTA

Thank you for accepting the role of Chair of the new, independent Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC). The TAC will play an important role in scrutiny of the UK’s new Free Trade Agreements and will be an invaluable source of expert information for the Government, Parliamentarians and the public.

I am writing to request the TAC’s advice on the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), in line with the provisions of section 42 of the Agriculture Act 2020 (“S.42”). I am publishing this letter on GOV.UK.

In line with the TAC Terms of Reference, which can be found on gov.uk, I am writing to request your advice on whether, or to what extent, the measures in the UK-Australia FTA – as signed on 16 December 2021 – that are applicable to trade in agricultural products are consistent with the maintenance of UK levels of statutory protection in relation to

a) animal or plant life or health,

b) animal welfare, and

c) environmental protections

I would like to request that this advice be produced on a chapter-by-chapter basis, though the TAC is welcome to include additional sections it sees fit.

In producing its report I would envisage that the TAC would:

• Conduct an initial assessment of which chapters it considers to be in / out of scope (that is which contain measures relating to trade in agricultural products)
• Consider all relevant measures within in-scope chapters
• With regard to relevant measures within in-scope chapters, provide responses to the following questions:
  • Does the UK-Australia FTA require a change to UK domestic statutory protections in relation to animal or plant life or health; animal welfare; and, the environment?
  • Does the UK-Australia FTA affect the UK Government’s ability to set statutory protections in these specified areas?
  • Does the UK-Australia FTA underline any existing UK domestic statutory protections – or in some instances go beyond them – in relation to: animal or plant life or health; animal welfare; and the environment?

The TAC should also:

• consider the landscape of statutory protections across the UK, reflecting on all parts of the UK
• consult those it considers may assist in the preparation of this advice and note in the advice – where relevant – those whom the TAC consulted
• given the government’s trade agenda is of interest to many, consider how to make its advice accessible and readable to a non-technical audience

It is anticipated that advice received from the TAC will be laid before Parliament in its own right and reflected in the government’s own section 42 report.

I would request that your advice be submitted electronically to the TAC Secretariat (TACSecretariat@trade.gov.uk) by no later than 31 March 2022.

Best wishes,

The Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Secretary of State for International Trade & President of the Board of Trade