The Government has announced that it is extending the Trade and Agriculture Commission (TAC), and placing it on a full statutory footing in the Trade Bill, giving farmers a stronger voice in UK trade policy. The government has also tabled an amendment to the Agriculture Bill to bolster parliamentary scrutiny of free trade deals.
The Commission was initially launched for a six-month period in July to bring together voices from across the sector and report back to inform trade policy and negotiations. Since then it has heard from dozens of experts on farming, animal welfare, the environment and trade, called for evidence from hundreds of key voices across the industry, as well as engaging local farmers, producers, businesses and MPs across the UK through a series of virtual regional roadshows.
The Government has decided to extend the Commission past its previous fixed term and give it a more active role through a new legislative underpinning, to be reviewed every three years. It will produce a report on the impact on animal welfare and agriculture of each new free trade deal the government signs after the end of the EU transition period on 1 January. This report will be laid in Parliament by the Department for International Trade before the start of the 21-day scrutiny period of the free trade deal under the terms of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act. This follows a call from the NFU to put the Trade and Agriculture Commission on a statutory basis to report to Parliament ahead of trade deals going through the CRaG process.
The Government also tabled an amendment to the Agriculture Bill, in order to boost parliamentary scrutiny of new free trade deals from 1 January. It will place a duty on the Government to report to Parliament on whether, or to what extent, commitments in new free trade deals relating to agricultural goods are consistent with maintaining UK levels of statutory protection in relation to human, animal and plant life and health; animal welfare; and environmental protection. This report will be laid at the same time, or ahead of, any free trade deal being laid before Parliament, demonstrating how the Government is meeting our commitments on standards.
Commenting, Richard said: "I very much welcome the move to extend the Trade & Agriculture Commission, boosting scrutiny and placing farmers at the heart of the UK's trade policy. It will mean that MPs will have access to independent and expert advice when reviewing the impact of each trade deal on farming.
"In addition, the government's amendment to the Agriculture Bill mandates that prior to any new free trade agreement being laid before Parliament, the Secretary of State must publish a report detailing whether the terms of the deal are consistent with UK levels of protection in these key areas. This ensures ongoing parliamentary scrutiny of all future free trade agreements and reinforces in legislation our manifesto commitment to uphold the outstanding standards in food production that this country is rightly proud of."
