Union issues warning as lamb imports surge

A major increase in lamb imports last year should serve as a stark warning to the UK government, the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has said.

The total volume of fresh and frozen sheep meat imported into the United Kingdom in the past twelve months saw a substantial rise of 17 percent to 63,800 tonnes,

Volumes received from the largest source of imported sheepmeat - New Zealand - were 3% higher than 2021.

Significantly, though, much more than usual of this volume arrived in the form of frozen product as opposed to fresh.

Frozen lamb accounted for 86 per cent of the total New Zealand fresh and frozen sheepmeat imports, whereas in 2021 the equivalent figure was 57 per cent.

Meanwhile, GB prime lamb deadweight prices have declined by 90 pence per kilo year on year.

They are now trending below the five year average despite buoyant markets during the pandemic.

The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) President Glyn Roberts said the increases in import volumes had a 'negative impact' on UK markets.

“Ministers who were supportive of government's liberal approach to trade negotiations with New Zealand and Australia argued that the Welsh sheep industry should not be concerned as those countries were well below the existing import quota limits and this was unlikely to change.

"We warned then that this was a naïve or deliberately misleading point of view that failed to take account of how global markets, exchange rates and other factors could rapidly change, leading to increases in import volumes that have a negative impact on UK markets."

The union highlighted that the significant increase in lamb imports from New Zealand in 2022 demonstrated this point, while acknowledging that other factors were also at play in the lamb market.

"We are now locked into trade deals with New Zealand and Australia that will phase out import limits for key Welsh products altogether, with few safeguards for our own producers," Mr Roberts added.

"These deals are seen as laughably liberal by other countries given the vanishingly small benefits the Government's own figures show they are likely to bring for the UK economy."

Mr Roberts reiterated the FUW's longstanding call for the government to revise its policy on international trade and place UK food security and standards at the top of the agenda.

This should occur particularly given the vulnerability of lengthy supply chains and reliance on imports exposed by the pandemic and Russia's attack on Ukraine, he said.

"The government's own impact analyses make it clear that these deals will see production and prices undermined, with losses of hundreds of millions for the food and farming sector under certain scenarios.

"Such losses would be severely compounded if similarly liberal trade deals are signed with other countries we are currently negotiating with and may seek trade deals with in future," he added.