Holyrood ministers warn NZ deal will damage Scottish farmers

The UK government’s free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand will be damaging for Scottish farmers and food producers, Holyrood ministers have warned.

The deal will allow for much greater quantities of produce to come into the UK tariff-free, creating “a lack of a level playing field” between Scottish and New Zealand farmers, rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon and trade minister Ivan McKee warned.

The Scottish government ministers have written to UK government trade policy minister Penny Mordaunt to point out a “stark contrast” with the agreement the European Union has secured with New Zealand, which secures the same market access for its exporters, but seemingly with better safeguards for its domestic producers.

See also: Potential China spat could see more NZ meat imports

In the first year of its FTA, the UK will allow 12,000t of New Zealand beef into this country, while the EU has agreed to only 3,333t across all 27 member states.

By year 15, the UK government will allow 60,000t of New Zealand beef into the UK, and after that an unlimited quantity, while the EU will cap imports at 10,000t, and still apply a 7.5% tariff.

Lamb concerns

Scottish ministers have also raised concerns about lamb imports. The trade deal allows 50,000t of sheepmeat into the UK by year 15, with no limit on imports after that. The EU-New Zealand FTA, however, allows a maximum of 38,000t.

In a letter to Ms Mordaunt, Ms Gougeon and Mr McKee said the UK’s deal “emphasises the futility and economic self-harm of the UK government leaving the EU, making its own trade agreements, and then ending up with a worse deal than if we had stayed in the EU”.

The letter continues: “It is notable that the EU–New Zealand FTA specifically excludes beef that is produced on commercial feedlots from benefiting from the preferential terms of this agreement.

“As concerns about fair competition are well known, why could the UK government not agree a similar condition with New Zealand as part of its FTA negotiations?”

The Scottish ministers called on the UK government to set out “what mitigations and compensation it will put in place for economic sectors and communities that suffer as a result” of this deal.

SNP under fire

But the UK government’s minister for trade, Ranil Jayawardena, accused the Scottish government’s ruling party, the SNP, of yet again “doing down Scottish farmers and food producers”.

He insisted: “Our deal with New Zealand will increase bilateral trade by almost 60% and open even greater opportunities, including paving the way to accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a trading area worth £9trn.

“The UK government will continue to champion farmers and food producers across the country.”

The New Zealand deal is the second major FTA to be agreed since Brexit, after the one signed with Australia last year. Both countries are major agricultural exporting nations.