Farming leaders in East Anglia have demanded urgent details on food import safeguards after a new free trade deal was struck with Australia.

Boris Johnson has insisted British farmers will benefit from the landmark deal - the first to be negotiated from scratch since Brexit.

The prime minister said it marks a "new dawn" in the UK's relationship with Australia, with British products like cars, Scotch whisky and biscuits set to be cheaper to sell in the tariff-free agreement.

But farmers fear they could be undercut by cut-price imports of beef and lamb produced to lower standards than required in the UK, as products such as hormone-treated beef are banned here, but permitted in Australia.

Downing Street said there will be a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, with other "safeguards" to protect British farmers.

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Gary Ford, East Anglia regional director for the National Farmers' Union (NFU) said it was now critical that ministers engage with industry on the details of the deal as soon as possible.

“We have been clear throughout about the potential impact of trade deals that eliminate all tariffs on imports from the biggest agricultural exporters in the world," he said.

“It appears that this agreement will include safeguards that attempt to strike a balance between liberalising trade and supporting UK farm businesses, as well as a reasonable period of time to allow UK farmers to adjust to the new trading environment. However, details remain very thin on the ground.

“East Anglia is known as Britain’s breadbasket, but we also have significant beef and sheep sectors. We await further details of the agreement to ensure these safeguards are sufficient to protect our livestock farmers and don’t unfairly impact on our high animal welfare and production standards.

“It is concerning that today’s announcement makes no mention of welfare or environmental standards.”

Nick Sandford, East regional director for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), added: “It’s important that we are able to support free trade and farming as a nation and we welcome this deal in principle.

“But, in any deal we strike with other countries, it’s essential that imports meet domestic standards on food safety, animal welfare and the environment.

“Our farmers are subject to stringent environmental and animal health and welfare standards, so it would be totally unacceptable to allow them to be undercut by imports produced to lower standards. Farming in the UK is a business and needs to be globally competitive so these factors must be at the heart of this new deal with Australia.”

Mr Johnson said the trade agreement will adhere to the "strongest possible" animal welfare standards.

"We're opening up to Australia, but we're doing it in a staggered way and we're doing it over 15 years," he said.

"We're retaining safeguards, making sure we have protections against sudden influxes of goods and also making sure we adhere to the strongest possible standards for animal welfare."

International trade secretary Liz Truss, who is also the MP for South West Norfolk, said: "The agreement paves the way for us to join the Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a £9 trillion free trade area home to some of the biggest consumer markets of the present and future.

"Membership will create unheralded opportunities for our farmers, makers, innovators and investors to do business in the future of engine room of the global economy," she said.