Farmers fear long-term impact of New Zealand trade deal

British farmers fear they could be undercut and their livelihoods put at risk by cheap food imports in a post-Brexit trade deal with New Zealand.

It is understood that a deal set to be agreed next week between the UK and New Zealand governments would cut all import tariffs on NZ agricultural goods.

This would allow New Zealand producers much greater access to sell their beef, lamb, dairy and wine into UK markets, in a deal that would be similar to the free trade agreement recently signed with Australia.

See also: Real impact of Aussie trade deal ‘to hit farmers in 10 years’

The NFU said it supported the UK government’s stated objectives in its trade negotiations – to secure broad liberalisation of tariffs on a mutually beneficial basis, considering UK product sensitivities, including in agriculture. 

However, the NFU and its members have concerns over the potential impact of trade deals that eliminate all tariffs on imports from the biggest agricultural exporters in the world, including New Zealand.

An NFU spokesperson said: “It is vital the UK government approaches all its negotiations with countries including New Zealand, the US, Canada and Mexico – all major agricultural producers and exporters – on their own terms and ensure that future deals balance access to UK agricultural markets with at least the same level of opportunities for British agri-food exports.

“The cumulative effect of these deals could have a major impact on UK farming and, handled badly, it may become impossible for some of our farm businesses to continue to compete.”

Final talks

Negotiators are locked in final talks with New Zealand on a deal that would ditch tariffs and increase business ties. Trade in goods and services between the two countries was worth more than £2.3bn last year, and it is expected to increase significantly as a result of a wide-ranging trade deal.

Liz Webster, spokeswoman for the lobby group Save British Farming, warned that the UK government was “opening our country up for New Zealand to benefit”.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) warned that this trade deal and others in the Trans-Pacific Partnership area would expose UK farmers in the future to potentially very cheap imports with no way of controlling their volume or price. 

FUW vice-president Dai Miles said: “Reciprocal trade will be restricted to very niche and specialist goods, and with a population on the other side of the world that’s lower than that of Scotland and just 7% of the UK population, opportunities in New Zealand [for UK exporters] are extremely limited.”