There is 鈥渘o guarantee鈥 that post-Brexit trade deals will deliver any real economic benefits unless companies receive better support on exporting, MPs have warned.
A report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee said the Government had not provided enough clarity about the 鈥渢rade-offs鈥 involved in the deals signed by the 海角视频 since leaving the European Union, particularly the impact on British farmers, while the environmental impact of increasing business with countries further afield than EU neighbours 鈥渞emains uncertain鈥.
The committee also cast doubt on the Government鈥檚 goal of having 80% of the 海角视频鈥檚 trade covered by free-trade deals by the end of the year, particularly as progress on an agreement with the United States is 鈥渙n hold鈥.
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The cross-party group MPs said there was a 鈥渓ack of clarity鈥 from the Department for International Trade (DIT) about how it will measure whether it is achieving any benefits from its negotiations on free-trade agreements (FTAs).
鈥淭here is no guarantee that the agreements will deliver actual economic benefits unless the department provides vital support to help businesses use the agreements, particularly for smaller businesses wanting to export worldwide,鈥 the report said.
Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the committee鈥檚 deputy chairman, said: 鈥淭he department needs to communicate what benefits we might expect from this brave new world we鈥檝e entered and what trade-offs we face.
鈥淭he department is really struggling to point to tangible wins for British business, consumers or our own agriculture sector 鈥 even as the pandemic and energy price crises demonstrate the critical importance of robust trade arrangements.
鈥淒IT is constrained by the deliberations and choices of our biggest trading partners 鈥 this is a problem of its own making, and for it to fix: families struggling out of the pandemic and into a massive cost-of-living crisis must not be the ones to pay.
鈥淎s well as negotiating new FTAs, the department must concentrate more on enabling small and medium-size companies to export, often for the first time.鈥
The committee鈥檚 report said that as of January 2022, 64% of 海角视频 trade was covered by FTAs including the EU deal which represents 47% of 海角视频 trade.
The report said that achieving the 80% target 鈥渨ill be challenging鈥 as major goals such as joining the CPTPP Pacific trade bloc and an agreement with India will only contribute 0.4% and 1.5% respectively to the target.
A deal with the US, representing 16.8% of 海角视频 trade, 鈥渋s on hold because the US decided to pause negotiations鈥 under Joe Biden, although there has been success in ending the US bans on British beef and lamb, the MPs said.
The committee also complained about problems with MPs being able to properly scrutinise trade deals.
A DIT spokesman said: 鈥淕etting a good deal for consumers and businesses is at the heart of our trade strategy. We have already secured over 拢770bn of trade deals with 70 countries plus the EU, while continuing to attract inward investment and boost our world-class exports.
鈥淟ast year we launched our landmark Export Strategy so more businesses can seize new opportunities in the world鈥檚 fastest growing markets and bring prosperity to every corner of the country.
鈥淲e take parliamentary scrutiny of FTAs very seriously and have made enhanced commitments to scrutiny and transparency at every stage of negotiations, going far beyond our statutory requirements.鈥
Consumer group Which? stressed the need for proper information about the deals.
Sue Davies, the group鈥檚 head of consumer protection policy, said: 鈥淥ur research has found that although 海角视频 consumers are clear on what they want from trade negotiations 鈥 they want deals to maintain safety standards for food and products, keep their data secure online and look after the environment 鈥 more than two-thirds of people feel left in the dark about what new trade deals will mean for them.鈥
