Continued access to EU third country trade deals 'vital' for UK food and farming

The UK currently exports £2.3bn worth of food and drink to the around 60 countries with which the EU has secured preferential trade agreements
The UK currently exports £2.3bn worth of food and drink to the around 60 countries with which the EU has secured preferential trade agreements

Failure to secure continued access to the EU’s many preferential trade deals could have "serious implications" for the food and farming industry, according to new statistics.

Latest data from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) show that exports to these markets are now worth more than £2bn to UK producers.

The EU currently has more than 30 agreements in place with around 60 countries who contributed more than 10% (£2.3bn) of the UK’s total food and drink export figure of over £22bn in 2017.

Of those countries Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Mexico and Norway were the UK's biggest customers, with exports to South Korea having grown 51% since the deal entered into force in 2011.

In total, the EU27 and those markets with which the EU has trade agreements contributed over 70% of the UK’s food and drink export value, more than £15bn.

'Essential for future growth'

With little more than a year remaining until the UK leaves the EU, the FDF says it is "essential for the future growth" of UK food and farming that government "successfully delivers" its plans for continued access to each of the EU’s trade deals.

To achieve this, the FDF say the government will need to secure an agreement with each third country, and in each case with the EU, that includes the UK's fair share of tariff-rate quotas.

Loss of preferential access to these markets during or after the transition period would have a "damaging impact" on the UK's export competitiveness, the trade body says.

The FDF say it would also threaten the ability to import ingredients and raw materials that complement use of UK produce to deliver "affordability, availability, and choice of food" for UK consumers.

Without access to imported ingredients, domestic production and the UK's export success story could be at risk.

China and US

Figures show that the US and China are the largest non-EU markets for total food and drink exports, seeing growth of 5.2% and 29.0% in 2017, respectively.

The FDF say the growth in the Chinese and US markets presents an opportunity to sell more British food to them.

It follows news of China further opening its vast market to the UK as the green light has been given to allow British beef imports for the first time in twenty years.

A pork export deal with China announced last year will bring a £200 million boost to the UK food industry and support 1,500 jobs.

China has been highlighted as one of the top three markets that food and drink companies would like to target, according to FDF research.

Ian Wright, Director General at FDF, said Brexit does present an opportunity for producers, but "appropriate access" must be in place for the UK's largest trading partners after the UK leaves the EU.

He said: "Brexit presents an opportunity to sell more of our fantastic food overseas, but in order to do that we must ensure that we have appropriate access to our largest trading partners in place once we’ve left the EU."