British farmers have been unable to export any beef to Australia under the UK’s first post-Brexit free-trade agreement (FTA), it has been revealed.
The trade deal, which was signed in December 2021, was heralded by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss as marking a step-change in the way Britain trade with the rest of the world.
However, almost three years on, UK exporters have been unable to shift a single slither of beef due to the deluge of red tape, while Australian farmers have shipped 1,700 tonnes to the UK, despite questions being raised over the quality of the meat infiltrating the market.
According to reports in National World, experts think that under the current system it would take around three years for an exporter to get approved by Australian authorities, even with the FTA.
The British Meat Processors Association has written to Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, urging her not to make the same mistake in future free-trade agreements.
CEO Nick Allen wrote: “Our members are always looking proactively for business opportunities and seeing if they can also benefit reciprocally.
“There are UK operators in Australia right now trying to do this and they have indeed identified opportunities to export beef products to that market only to find that they are unable do to so as currently Australia will not permit the import of UK beef or sheep meat without undertaking a protracted approval process which, put simply, means that Australia considers UK beef and lamb not safe to import unless and until we prove otherwise.”
Allen asked Badenoch for this to be “addressed urgently and that the government requests that Australia reciprocates and allows the import of UK beef and lamb without preconditions”.
He added: “Again, we feel UK farmers would be deeply concerned if it emerged that we are prepared to import Australian meat and meat products without restriction but are unable to export to that market despite there being an FTA.”
Liz Webster, a cattle and arable farmer from Wiltshire who launched Save British Farming, told NationalWorld: “British Beef is screwed unless we ditch these bad deals”.
“No wonder Australia laughed their socks off at us when the deal was sealed – laughing all the way to the bank.”
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