NICOLA Sturgeon has said Holyrood and Westminster should have a vote on the trade deal with Australia as its deputy prime minister said his country would be the "big winner" in the agreement.

The First Minister gave her views days after the agreement was struck between Boris Johnson and his counterpart Scott Morrison without any scrutiny by MPs or MSPs – despite fears from farmers it will decimate the industry by flooding the country with cheap meat imports, potentially injected with hormones.

She said the details of the deal should be published in full and be put to a vote "not just in the House of Commons but a vote in this parliament as well" as she responded to a question from SNP MSP Jim Fairlie at First Minister's Questions.

READ MORE: Australia trade deal: Michael McCormack dismissed Scottish concerns

Sturgeon added: "I am deeply concerned about the implications of this trade deal and future trade deals on our farming sector in Scotland.

"I have noted as I am sure others have done the words of the Australian deputy prime minister [Michael McCormack] just last night I think where he said and I am quoting 'the big winners are Australian producers and Australian farmers, indeed Australia full stop'.

"Asked about Welsh, Northern Irish beef producers he said 'I am not so worried about those'. I should say it's not his job to worry about Scottish producers. But the fact he's not worried suggests the government is not standing up for their interests in these talks either.

"So open this up to scrutiny and open it up to scrutiny in the national parliament of Scotland as well."

In an interview on Australia television McCormack said: “The big winners are Australian producers, Australian farmers, indeed Australians full stop.

“This could mean $1.3 billion of boost to the economy.”

The Scottish Government could put down a motion on the deal in Holyrood, though if the deal could still proceed if it was opposed by MSPs as trade agreements are reserved to Westminster.

However, it would illustrate Holyrood's limitations within the UK if MSPs voted against the trade agreement and it was went ahead regardless of their opposition.

Johnson and Morrison agreed the broad terms of a free trade deal over dinner at Downing Street on Monday. 

The UK Government says the agreement includes the provision that after a transition period of 15 years, there would be no tariffs or quotas (limits on the amounts that can be traded) on agricultural trade.

However the Australia’s trade ministry said in its own announcement that beef tariffs will halt after 10 years with a duty-free quota of 35,000 tonnes starting immediately. This will rise to 110,000 tonnes in year 10.

The UK imported 1766 tonnes of beef and veal from Australia in 2019, according to HMRC figures, meaning under the new arrangement Australia could export 20 times as much beef and veal in year one before incurring tariffs.

Scottish farmers are concerned that tariff-free, quota-free imports of Australian beef, lamb and sugar will undermine the domestic agriculture sector, while campaigners have raised alarm over Australian welfare standards and use of hormones to speed up growth in cattle.

The use of these growth hormone in cattle is currently banned in the UK on human safety grounds.

A cross-party group of 24 MPs wrote on Tuesday to trade secretary Liz Truss stating they have “urgent concerns” over the impact of the Australian deal and condemning the lack of input given to parliament.

Under the deal, British importers will no longer pay tariffs on Australian wines such as Jacob’s Creek and Hardy’s wines, while Scotch whisky exports will be exempt from a 5% tariff when arriving in Australia. 

The full details of the deal remain limited for with the final deal not expected to be agreed for some time. The UK Government has said an ‘agreement in principle’ will be published in the coming days.

In previous years, the UK Government has pushed forward with legislation despite the rejection of legislative consent motions (LCMs) my MSPs.

Such motions are tabled in Holyrood when a Bill in Westminster would legislate in devolved areas, or change the competence of either Holyrood or Scottish ministers.

Speaking in the Commons today, Truss – who was also celebrating the end of a trade dispute with the United States – said she does not agree with the “defeatist attitude” of those against the deal that British farmers “can’t compete”.

She told MPs: “We have a high quality, high value product which people want to buy, particularly in the growing middle classes of Asia.

“This deal with our great friend and ally Australia is just the start of our new post-Brexit trade agreements, and it’s fundamental about what type of country we want Britain to be.

“Do we want to be a country that embraces opportunity, looks to the future, believes its industries can compete and that its product is just what the world wants?

“Or do we accept the narrative some peddle that we need to stay hiding beyond the same protectionist walls that we had in the EU because we can’t possibly compete and succeed?”