THE UK Government has been accused of “screwing over” farmers with a new trade deal after details of plans for meat tariffs were revealed by the Australian government.

The Australians released information on tariffs for meat products this afternoon, which the UK Government had not yet disclosed as part of the announcement about the two countries' new Free Trade Agreement.

In a briefing Westminster officials said that farmers would be “protected” for 15 years by a cap on Australian imports, saying only that: “British farmers will be protected by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, using tariff rate quotas and other safeguards.”

However the Australian government later revealed that tariffs on beef and sheep meat, which includes lamb and mutton, would be “eliminated” after 10 years.

Farmers groups across the country have previously raised concerns about the trade deal having an impact on the demand for home-grown meat if cheaper imports start flooding supermarket shelves.

Luke Pollard MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the UK Government was “screwing over” farmers.

He said: “The Government are screwing over our farmers the same way they screwed over the British fishing industry. To do so with one sentence in a press release, and no answers to the crucial questions it raises, shows a staggering contempt for Britain’s farming communities.”

According to the Australian Government, beef and sheep meat tariffs will be removed after a decade.

For beef, they said that “In the subsequent five years a safeguard will apply on beef imports exceeding a further volume threshold rising in equal instalments to 175,000 tonnes, levying a tariff safeguard duty of 20 per cent for the rest of the calendar year.”

On sheep meat, the Australians said: “Sheep meat tariffs will be eliminated after ten years. During the transition period, Australia will have immediate access to a duty-free quota of 25,000 tonnes, rising in equal instalments to 75,000 tonnes in year 10.

“In the subsequent five years a safeguard will apply on sheep meat imports exceeding a further volume threshold rising in equal instalments to 125,000 tonnes, levying a tariff safeguard duty of 20 per cent for the rest of the calendar year.”

The National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland said the trade deal failed to provide “lasting assurances” for Scottish farmers.

The organisation’s president Martin Kennedy said: “As detail on the proposed terms of agreement around an Australian trade deal emerge, deep concerns will remain about its impact on Scotland’s farmers, crofters and our wider food and drink sector.”

He said the suggestion of a cap on tariff free imports for 15 years was “merely a slow journey to the Australians getting unfettered access to UK markets” adding there were “no guarantees that the promises of other safeguards will address the fact that very different production systems are permitted in Australia compared to here in the UK.”

He added that MPs should be able to scrutinise the deal properly, and the Government must provide an impact assessment “on what it may mean for the agriculture and food sectors.”

"An FTA with Australia, and the way it has been agreed without proper industry consultation or scrutiny, sets a dangerous precedent for other Free Trade Agreements, including those with other major farming and food producing nations such as New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and the United States” he said.

“The cumulative impact of all such trade deals on extremely vulnerable sectors such as farming, food and drink could be hugely destructive.”

Earlier today Boris Johnson tweeted that “the deal is done” as he insisted British farmers will benefit from new arrangements – which are the first to be negotiated from scratch since Brexit.

Mr Johnson said it was “good news” for services and manufacturers in the UK, with British products such as cars, Scottish whisky and confectionary set to be cheaper to sell to Australia because of the tariff-free agreement.