Defra will end the six-month authorisation that allowed imports of seed potatoes from Europe to GB at a time when exports from GB to EU were not permitted.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Europe, announced at the end of 2020, failed to agree equivalence on seed potatoes.
This resulted in significant prohibitions on Scottish seed exports to the EU and, by extension, Northern Ireland.
At the time, NFU Scotland had said that the consequence for growers was 'immediate and grave'.
As an EU Member State, Britain exported around 30,000t of seed potatoes worth £13.5m to Europe each year, and the majority of these were high-health stocks grown in Scotland.
Growers have now welcomed the decision taken by Defra to end the six-month authorisation that allowed the import of EU seed potatoes to GB.
The extension expired on 30 June 2021 and has not been renewed. The government has previously applied for equivalence on seed potatoes, and this application has been rejected.
NFU Scotland said it hoped the decision taken by government not to extend authorisation to EU seed imports will bring fresh impetus to talks that will agree equivalence and allow exports to resume.
Chair of NFU Scotland’s Potatoes Working Group, Mike Wilson, a seed potato grower, said that extending the authorisation for a further six months had the 'potential to devastate' Scotland’s seed potato industry.
"We welcome that the UK government’s allowance for EU seed potatoes to be sold to GB has now officially been ended," he said.
“This means that potato growers throughout Britain will have to source their seed from within Britain, which is good news for Scotland’s seed potato sector."
Mr Wilson added: “The GB market is quite different from the EU market, so the potato sector has quite a task on its hands to develop and supply this internal market."
In the meantime, the union said it would be working with government and European counterparts to regain access to the EU market.
