Environment Secretary Steve Reed has claimed there is “no downside” for the fishing industry in the UK-EU trade deal.
The wide-ranging deal will allow farmers to get swifter, easier access to trade on the continent as a result of an agreement on animal and plant product standards.
But the Government has also received swift condemnation for agreeing to grant European fishing trawlers a further 12 years of access to British waters.
Speaking to the Environment Committee on Tuesday, Mr Reed described the deal as a “huge boost for the UK agri-food and food and drink sectors”.
But he was quickly forced to defend the agreement as MPs quizzed him about the concerns and anger from fishing sector leaders, who have described it as a “horror show” and a “betrayal”.
Mr Reed said: “I think this is a reasonably good deal for the UK fishing sector.
“Compared to what some of the speculation was, and indeed some of the pressures on our negotiating team, the EU was interested in more quota, more access to (UK) territorial waters.
“They were looking for a deal on fishing in perpetuity, and they were trying to achieve that by making what I felt was a spurious link between fishing and an SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) deal.”
The Environment secretary said the UK’s negotiating team “held strong”, resulting in an agreement that has seen “no loss at all” in terms of quota and access to territorial waters.
He argued that instead the sector will benefit as exporting British produce across the border becomes “much easier, simpler, much less costly”.
He added: “There is no downside to this for fishers. There’s a big upside in what they can export.”
However, the Environment Secretary was challenged about making “no progress” on major asks from the UK fishing sector.
These included exclusive access to certain waters, regulatory autonomy relating to the management of fisheries and improving collaboration over the equitable and sustainable management of non-quota species.
Continuing to defend the deal, Mr Reed said: “This was a negotiation so we of course pushed for more, but it’s a negotiation.
“I have to say I would’ve liked if we got more for them. We did push hard,” he said, adding that he engaged with industry bodies, ensuring their position was fed through during talks.
Mr Reed went on to argue the UK retained regulatory autonomy with no return to the EU’s common fishing policy as well its position on sand eels.
“This is a good deal standing on its own for fish but if you look at the wider impact on the economy, it’s a huge boost,” he said.
The Environment Secretary also denied claims fisheries were “traded off” for other areas in the negotiations after Environment Committee chairman Alistair Carmichael suggested the Government had invited that compromise by allowing them to be part of these negotiations.
“I do want to really emphasise this point, because you said fishing was ‘traded out’ in this deal,” Mr Reed said.
“It wasn’t. They’ve lost absolutely nothing and they’ve gained things, particularly (market) access that they did not have before,” he said.
