The head of Wales’ meat marketing board has told farmers that access to the European market is 'critical' for the Welsh red meat sector.
Speaking at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Llanelwedd, Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) chairman Dai Davies urged the government to ensure tariff-free access to the European market, where 90% of Welsh red meat exports go.
Mr Davies said: “Exports are absolutely essential to this industry’s future sustainability. Profitability and, most importantly, prices depend on exports.
“In 2014, £225m worth of Welsh red meat exports went to our mature markets in the EU. That’s nine in every 10 export sales.
“With exports accounting for around 35% of all Welsh lamb production, it means that nearly a third of the Welsh flock is sold to the EU nations.”
The Welsh red meat market has grown from around £50m in 2003 to a record peak of £250m in 2013.
'Mature markets of the EU'
While new markets are being developed with the help of initiatives by bodies such as HCC, the European market remains crucial.
“New and emerging markets are hugely exciting, and have tremendous potential for the future, but many of them are a very long way behind the leading mature markets in the European Union,” Mr Davies said.
“Clearly, we cannot afford to be excluded or restricted in our future export trade from these key markets. I am sure the whole of the red meat industry in Wales strongly supports the First Minister and our Cabinet Secretary [Lesley Griffiths] in advocating a tariff-free Brexit within a fair trade agreement.
“It is not an easy or quick job to break into any new territory; there may be protocols, restrictions and diplomatic conventions, alongside the trade negotiations, that we have to deal with, no matter how world class our product is.”
