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London, United Kingdom, and Canberra, Australia—Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week signed a free trade agreement that, among other things, liberalizes dairy trade between the two countries.

Specifically, according to the Australian government, key market access outcomes for Australian dairy exporters include:

• Tariffs on dairy eliminated in equal installments over five years.

• For cheese, immediate access to a transitional duty-free quota starting at 24,000 tons (52.9 million pounds) and rising in equal installments to 48,000 tons (105.8 million pounds) in year five.

• For butter, immediate access to a transitional duty-free quota starting at 5,500 tons (12.1 million pounds) and rising to 11,500 tons (25.4 million pounds) in year five.

• For other dairy products, immediate access to an annual duty-free quota of 20,000 tons (44.1 million pounds) for five years.

The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) welcomed the signing of the free trade agreement, noting that the UK is a large dairy importer as well as exporter of dairy products.

Currently, European Union members supply 98 percent of the UK’s dairy imports.

Rick Gladigau, chair of Australian Dairy Industry Council, congratulated the Australian negotiating team for successfully concluding the agreement within a relatively short time frame.

“Attaining improved access into markets such as the United Kingdom is important for farmer profitability and vital for our industry to continue to be successful,” Gladigau said.

“While the Australian dairy industry has no expectations of a return to levels of trade seen prior to the UK entering the European Union, what is envisioned are the emergence of high value, niche opportunities, leveraging our counter seasonal supply to the Northern Hemisphere,” said Grant Crothers, ADIC deputy chair.

“As we feared following the agreement in principle, there appears to be extremely little in this deal to benefit British farmers,” said Minette Batters, president, UK National Farmers Union.

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