No! Trade deals are designed to remove restrictions on the trade in goods and therefore aren’t the place to secure better standards.
A closer look at the EU’s existing trade deals reveals the limited prospects for the UK to ‘export’ a more stringent approach to pesticide regulation. These deals don’t actively promote the EU’s precautionary approach to pesticides, in fact it largely goes unmentioned. Through its trade deals the EU has actually subjected itself to some new pressures to deregulate pesticides by creating structures which allow other countries to push for weaker pesticide protections. This is something that UK negotiators should avoid.