A leading trade group has warned that Britain should not allow the Australia-UK free trade agreement to be “held hostage” by the country’s agriculture sector and should focus on ratifying the deal this year.

The British Chamber of Commerce in Australia released a report this week saying the first post-Brexit trade deal would remove more than A$9bn (£5bn) in tariffs and boost access to workers and capital between the two countries.

But British farmers have be opposed to Australia could flood the UK market with cheap beef and lamb and damage the livelihoods of livestock producers.

“The danger we face is that agriculture, which is an important but very small part of the free trade agreement, holds the rest of the agreement hostage. It’s a bigger picture,” David McCready, the group’s chief executive, told the Financial Times .

“This pair [UK] The government has touted this as the first post-Brexit trade deal to meet the high benchmark they set,” he added.

free trade agreement, which is Agree in principle He added that last year’s approval was supposed to take place in the last three months of the year, but if it was put on hold in the UK parliament it could be delayed until 2023.

The wide-ranging deal will cut duties on everything from whisky to Sunderland-made electric cars exported to Australia. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson posed last year with a pack of Australian Tim Tam chocolate chip cookies to highlight the benefits for British consumers.

McCready said the deal could spur post-pandemic economic recovery in both countries, but the deal could be weighed down by an overly pessimistic view of its impact on British industry.

“Every day we wait means more tariffs,” he added.

The UK is Australia’s fifth-largest goods trading partner, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The deal could create opportunities for companies hit by Chinese tariffs as part of rising geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Canberra.

Agricultural trade between the UK and Australia has been at very low levels since the UK joined the EU due to high tariffs and trade barriers. The Australian government has argued that it is unlikely to return to pre-EU membership levels due to the strength of its Asian trade ties.

Much of the gain will benefit large service industries in the UK and Australia as immigration and capital investment open up.

“It’s not just facade decoration, it has real teeth,” Mcready said.

British Chambers of Commerce in Australia represents the interests of 25,000 businesses active in both countries.

Britain’s Department for International Trade declined to comment.