Committee questions International Trade Secretary on New Zealand and Australia deals

1 July 2022

The International Trade Committee will question the Secretary of State for International Trade on the UK’s agreements with New Zealand and Australia in two separate sessions on Wednesday 6 July.

International Trade Committee

Purpose of the sessions

In the first session, from 10am, the Committee will discuss the New Zealand deal, hearing first from the Chair of the Trade and Agriculture Commission, followed by a panel with the Secretary of State, Rt. Hon. Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP.

MPs will question the witnesses on the details of the deal, the opportunities it presents for British exporters, and its impact on agriculture and food production in the UK.

From 1pm, in a session rescheduled following a last-minute cancellation earlier this week, the Committee will hear from the Secretary of State on the Australia agreement.

MPs will quiz the Trade Secretary on the gains for businesses and consumers under the deal, as well as concessions given by the UK to Australia in exchange.

The Committee is likely to examine the consequences for farmers and other food producers in the UK, in addition to the impacts on manufacturers and those trading in services.

The session follows publication of the Committee’s report criticising the Government for starting the brief period of Parliamentary scrutiny of the agreement before the Committee had the opportunity to publish its analysis of the deal. In the report, the Committee calls on the Government to delay ratification of the trade deal to enable robust scrutiny of the agreement.

Witnesses

Session one

Wednesday 6 July in Committee Room 5, Palace of Westminster, Houses of Parliament

At 10am

Professor Lorand Bartels MBE, Chair, Trade and Agriculture Commission

At 10.45am

Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Secretary of State for International Trade
Crawford Falconer, Second Permanent Secretary and Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser, Department for International Trade

Session two