A cross section of MPs have attended a House of Commons event to hear about the impact a poor Brexit deal will have on Welsh agriculture.
Welsh MPs attended the NFU Cymru event in Westminster on Monday (19 November), which sought to underline the importance of Welsh agriculture and its particular vulnerability to a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario.
Farmers explained to politicians attending why losing tariff-free and barrier-free access to the European market could be “disastrous” for farmers.
The event saw NFU Cymru bring a bit of the Welsh countryside into the House of Commons with a large, eye-catching banner of sheep grazing, while MPs were also able to sample a variety of meats and cheeses produced by farmers.
Around a third of Wales’ lamb crop is exported each year, with 90% of that going to the EU.
If the UK were to crash out of the EU and have to trade on WTO terms, exports of lamb would face an effective tariff rate of 46%, while for beef effective rates are much higher at anything between 48 and 84% according to the cut.
Welsh MPs have attended a special NFU Cymru event in #Westminster today underlining the importance of Welsh agriculture and its particular vulnerability to a poor Brexit deal. Thank you to @CPJElmore for sponsoring the event: https://t.co/7FR6Fa1Tue pic.twitter.com/Wa6nBskrOu
— NFU Cymru ?? (@NFUCymru) November 19, 2018
‘Shut out’
NFU Cymru President, John Davies said there is “no way” Welsh sheep producers could remain competitive in the face of steep tariffs.
He said: “Under a no-deal scenario, in order to export to the EU27 we will also need to secure their approval as a third country exporter, something which according to the UK Government’s own technical notices, we cannot be sure of obtaining.
“Potentially therefore we face the prospect of being shut out of our EU export markets for an unknown period of time.”
Mr Davies added: “My worst fear, though, is that we end up being shut out of export markets, whilst the UK Government in its desire to keep food on supermarket shelves will continue to admit agri-food products from the EU27 to the UK.
“If realised, this would amount to a double jeopardy of us being unable to export to the EU, whilst imports continue to come is as normal,” he said.
The Welsh red meat industry is currently in a major drive to grow new markets outside the European Union as Brexit uncertainty continues.
Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) is aiming to grow markets outside Europe which could be important to Welsh farming’s post-Brexit future.
Volumes of meat sold in newer markets such as Canada and Asia are currently small, but HCC is targeting these countries given the uncertainty over future European trade access after Brexit.
