The International Trade Committee hears from the Trade and
Agriculture Commission (TAC) and a range of representatives from
the UK agriculture, food and drink sectors.
Witnesses
Tuesday 26 April 2022
At 10.00am
- Professor Lorand Bartels MBE, Chair, Trade and Agriculture
Commission
At 11.00am
- Nick von Westenholz, Director of Trade and Business Strategy,
National Farmers’ Union
- Robert Hodgkins, shepherd
- Gerald Mason, Senior Vice President, Tate & Lyle Sugars
- James Russell, Senior Vice President, British Veterinary
Association
- Miles Beale, Chief Executive, Wine and Spirit Trade
Association
The session, to be held across two panels, continues the
Committee’s scrutiny of the
UK-Australia trade deal. MPs will first hear evidence from
the Chair of the TAC, which has a statutory role in scrutinising
free trade agreements, after which a panel will be held with
representatives from the UK agri-food sector.
In the first panel, MPs will explore the conclusions of the TAC’s report to the
Government on the impact of the Australia deal on UK food
production standards. Potential topics of discussion include the
report’s conclusions on how the agreement affects UK standards on
animal and plant health, animal welfare, and the environment,
including the impact of differences in UK and Australian
standards regarding pesticides and genetically-modified
organisms.
The Committee will then take evidence from agriculture, food and
drink sector representatives. Subjects will include the adequacy
of the deal’s protections for British farming, ramifications of
greater Australian market access for the UK sheep meat sector,
and the deal’s likely impact on the sugar industry and the drinks
trade.
