UK-Australia trade negotiations - Which? submission

Summary:

Which? welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the International Agreements Committee on the UK-Australia free trade agreement (FTA). It is essential that the government prioritises consumer interests as part of its trade policy and the success of trade negotiations will ultimately be judged by what they deliver for consumers in their everyday lives.

The government’s impact assessment highlights that the FTA will deliver for consumers by increasing consumer choice and lowering consumer prices on certain goods, such as wine and processed food products. Our in-depth consumer research shows that people welcome greater choice and lower prices, assuming that any removal or reduction in tariffs feeds through into consumer prices, but they also expect a wider range of consumer priorities to be central to any new trade deals. People prioritise maintaining food and product standards, maintaining data protection and digital rights, supporting environmental protection, and ensuring that trade deals deliver for all consumers.

We welcome the government’s reassurance that the FTA will allow the UK and Australia to apply their current food standards to imports and therefore means that the ban on beef produced using hormones will, for example, still be in place. We have concerns, however, that provisions within the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Chapter, including those relating to determining equivalence of standards and taking account of regional conditions, could still lead to a weakening of standards UK consumers expect longer-term. The mechanisms by which these provisions will be taken forward will therefore be crucial in order to ensure that the implications are fully understood and consumer interests protected. This includes ensuring a proactive role for the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland.

More generally, we have concerns about how the provisions relating to removal of tariffs and quotas for agricultural imports, will impact on standards and the UK’s focus on a shift to a more sustainable food system. Lower environmental and animal welfare standards, as well as different controls over antibiotic usage, apply for Australian producers. In its impact assessment, the government, for example, recognises the higher carbon impact likely from increased Australian beef imports relative to UK production. The government should therefore act on the recommendation of the Trade and Agriculture Commission, as well as Henry Dimbleby within his National Food Strategy, and establish a set of minimum core standards, including environmental and welfare standards, that will apply to this and other trade deals.

The provisions opening up data flows could be beneficial for consumers by providing access to a wider range of goods and services – but only if they are underpinned by robust data protection and digital rights. The FTA includes welcome provisions to enhance cooperation on consumer protection, but we are concerned that the data protection provisions reference international guidelines and principles which would be weaker than our own UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). UK consumers’ data must be handled according to the UK GDPR once it is transferred to Australia and then potentially onward to another jurisdiction.

Our consumer research has found that environmental protection has become a greater priority for many people. It is therefore positive that the FTA sets out a desire for cooperation on environmental issues and will establish an Environmental Working Group, but this needs to deliver in a meaningful way. The impact assessment shows that UK emissions are likely to increase in the short term as more products are transported from Australia.

We welcome the additional emphasis on consumer protection underpinning cross-border trade that has been included within the competition policy and consumer protection chapter. This includes reference to supporting dispute resolution and cooperation between competition and consumer protection authorities. This type of cooperation is essential in order to help tackle consumer harms that increasingly cross national jurisdictions.

It is, however, disappointing that unlike the New Zealand Agreement in Principle, the Australia deal does not include a more specific consumer chapter. Which? has called for a specific consumer chapter to be included within all UK trade deals. This should go further than the chapters agreed with both Australia and New Zealand and set out key guiding principles for promotion of consumer rights and protections, reinforcing provisions that are relevant for consumers within specific chapters throughout the FTA.