Eucolait, the European Association of Dairy Trade, has released a paper saying Brexit will cause great damage, economic and otherwise, to both the EU and the United Kingdom, specifically in Ireland.
Eucolait, the European Association of Dairy Trade, has released its position paper on future EU-UK trade relations.
The Association says it strongly believes there should still be a continued commitment open dairy trade, free from tariffs and non-tariff barriers, between the UK and EU.
They see the EU as by far the main market for UK dairy products and an almost exclusive supplier when it comes to UK dairy imports.
According to Eucolait, the Ireland/Northern Ireland border is of particular concern.
In 2016 about 800 ml of raw milk crossed the border from the UK to Ireland to be processed. Moreover, 75% of the processing facilities in Northern Ireland are fully or jointly owned by Irish cooperatives.
Re-establishment of a border, let alone duties, would be extremely harmful to both producers in Northern Ireland and dairies in the Republic of Ireland, according to the paper.
EU is the UK's main market
Existing trade flows between the UK and the rest of the EU are very significant.
The UK annually ‘exports’ more than €1 billion (£852m) worth of dairy products to other EU Member States, whereas ‘imports’ from the EU – 27 account for more than €3 billion (£2.5bn).
The EU is by far the main market for UK dairy products and an almost exclusive supplier when it comes to UK dairy imports.
Despite being the EU’s 3rd largest milk producer, the UK is only about 81% self-sufficient in dairy, notably due to high drinking milk consumption.
This makes the UK the second biggest dairy importer in the world (if intra-EU trade is considered as external trade) and the largest importer of cheese.
In spite ofindustry efforts to grow production, the UK will remain dependent on imports at least in the medium term, the report says.
