Lords committee to hold first evidence session on UK-US trade in agriculture and food
The House of Lords International Agreements Sub-Committee will this week hold its first evidence session as part of its inquiry into UK-US trade negotiations.
The committee will hear from industry experts, as it takes evidence on the impact of a possible future trade deal between the UK and US on agri-food.
The evidence session will be conducted on zoom and can be followed at Parliament TV from 3pm on Wednesday 1 July.
Giving evidence will be:
- Nick von Westenholz, Director of EU Exit and International Trade, National Farmers' Union
- Elsa Fairbanks, Director, Food and Drink Exporters' Association
- Michael Haverty, Partner and Senior Research Consultant, The Andersons Centre
Questions will include:
- What are the key areas where your members or clients are most concerned about the outcome of a UK-US deal, and where they are most optimistic about the possible outcome?
- In what areas do you think there is most risk for your clients/members if the US succeeds in gaining significant tariff reductions from the UK Global Tariff rates?
- What is your assessment of the scope of opportunities for exporters here, either through the US lowering its tariffs or through removing non-tariff barriers?
- The US has stated in their negotiating objectives that they seek to promote greater regulatory compatibility in agriculture. What might this look like in practice?
- What do you think the Government's approach to genetically modified foods should be?
- The US objectives also include preventing “improper use” of the UK system for protecting geographical indications. What sort of things do you think might be captured – in the US view or ours – by the term “improper use”?
- Looking more broadly, do you think that the UK has a satisfactory long-term strategy for how it will handle international trade in agricultural and food products?
