Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement will permit the import to the UK of food produced with pesticides banned in the UK.

The UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) does not create any new permissions for imports from Australia. All products imported into the UK will, as they do now, have to comply with our high import requirements and standards.

The government has a comprehensive programme for monitoring pesticides residues in food to determine whether food available to UK consumers complies with the statutory residue levels and is safe.

The independent Trade and Agriculture Commission recently concluded that the UK-Australia FTA does not affect the UK’s statutory protections in relation to animal or plant life or health, animal welfare, and the environment.