Hopes and fears for UK farming as Pacific deal looms  

The UK has secured the sixth and final ratification necessary to pave the way to accession into an Asia-Pacific trade bloc.

Peru’s ratification will see the UK officially join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by 15 December this year.

It means the UK will become the 12th member of the bloc, but the first from outside the region to gain entry.

See also: What the CPTPP free-trade bloc could mean for UK agriculture

CPTPP is a free-trade area spanning five contents and almost 600 million people once the UK joins.

The new Labour government and the previous Conservative administration have both talked up the advantage of joining the trade bloc, insisting it will open the door to UK opportunities for trade.

However, farming organisations are less enthusiastic.

Farming unions and farm lobby organisations have raised alarms about the UK’s entry, especially given the access for corporations to use investor state dispute settlement provisions (ISDS).

These allow corporations to sue states through a secretive parallel legal system if government policies threaten their future profits – even if those policies are aimed at protecting human rights and the environment.

This mechanism could provide opportunties for the Canadian meat lobby to sue the UK and force them into dropping the hormone-fed meat ban, which would lower food and environmental standards.

Critics have also questioned how the Labour government can still have ambitions to secure a post-Brexit veterinary agreement with the EU when CPTPP has the potential to force divergence from EU regulations.

The CPTPP was originally founded by the US under the Barack Obama presidency, but on his first day in office, former president Donald Trump decided to withdraw the US from the bloc and declared an end to the era of multi-national trade agreements.

President Trump said joining the CPTPP would be a bad deal for the US and a good deal for China. He also raised fears about a loss of sovereignty for the US, arguing entry would increase his country’s trade deficit.

Farming reaction

Liz Webster, founder of farming lobby Save British Farming, said: “I don’t often agree with Donald Trump, but on his evaluation of the Trans-Pacific partnership, we are in complete agreement.

“Signing away control of your national government to large, global corporations rings loud alarm bells for British agriculture.

“Why would global corporations give a damn about the British agriculture?”

She added: “Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay, China and Taiwan have also applied to join the CPTPP and, no doubt, more South American countries, such as Brazil and Argentina, will follow suit, which presents an almighty threat to British agriculture.

“To add icing on the cake, the US could decide to join in the future, which would crush many British producers.”

But trade minister Douglas Alexander insisted: “This is good news for UK businesses, who are now one step closer to being able to take advantage of the opportunities our membership of CPTPP will bring.”