Friday, March 29, 2024

Smith plays down British farmer fears

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A former Trade Minister is hopeful he can play his part convincing Britain to open its farmers up to increased competition from New Zealand and other rival producers once it leaves the European Union.
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Lockwood Smith credited his appointment to a new commission advising the British government on trade agreements and agriculture to his long experience as a farmer and former trade and agriculture minister, as well as his knowledge of the British farming and political scene as a recent High Commissioner to London.

“There is a realisation that (British) agriculture needs to move forward and this is an attempt to find a consensus on how best to do that,” Smith said.

While the 14-member commission was stacked with representatives from Britain’s farming unions Smith said there was enough representation from retailers and veterinary experts to ensure it took a broad approach to its work.

The appointment of a former senior executive of British supermarket chain Tesco as chairman indicated that the interests of British consumers would be taken into account by the commission when weighing up the benefits of new trade deals.

“All the farmer organisations are represented but the chair is not a farmer and I think that is significant,” Smith said.

“Consumer welfare will be a significant part of what we look at … don’t forget the British government as part of the whole Brexit debate has argued consumers will benefit from Brexit.”

But British farmers fear the trade-off for cheaper food will be increased imports from countries with lower animal welfare and environmental standards, which could put them out of business.

Smith said those concerns betrayed a lack of understanding about how global agricultural trade was regulated.

He said the rules which dictated trade agreements were based on standards set by international scientific bodies such as Codex Alimentarius, which dealt with food safety and the World Organisation of Animal Health.

These bodies set minimum standards for the World Trade Organisation, albeit they were not always followed by the EU, notably in its import bans on chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef.

“It is fair to say that the UK has been out of this sort of stuff for 40 years because the EU has handled all of it on their behalf.

“So there is quite a learning curve for those in the UK.”

Smith spoke to a number of farmer audiences while High Commissioner between 2013 and 2017.

They wanted the same opportunities NZ’s trade agreements provided to farmers here but were afraid about what they would have to give up to get them.  

Some were worried they would have to go through the same pain NZ farmers endured in the 1980s when subsidies were abolished overnight.  

But Smith said that was not an approach he had ever tried to push on British farmers. 

He said that if the British taxpayer was happy to pay its farmers for access to the countryside and other public goods that was fine so long as those subsidies were not linked to them producing more. 

“To me we have got to be sensible about the culture over there. 

“So long as these things are absolutely transparent and minimally distorting of trade that is the important thing.”

The UK is currently in talks for free trade deals with NZ, Australia, the United States, Japan and the EU.

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