The Farmers' Union of Wales is threatening legal action against the government if it fails to enforce custom controls which could allow a 'back door' for tariff-free imports after Brexit.
Speaking after an industry meeting held on Friday (27 September) to discuss the sharp decline in cattle prices, the union said the proposed 'no-deal' tariffs could 'damage' agriculture.
Draft import tariff rates and the proposal to allow tariff-free imports from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland were published in March.
Farming unions have written to the Defra Secretary Theresa Villiers underlining industry concern over the impact that the low rates would cause to British farming.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “We have queried the legality of setting tariffs at zero on the Irish land border, and highlighted the likelihood that this would open a back-door to smuggling onto the mainland unless customs controls at ports such as Liverpool are enforced rigidly.”
Mr Roberts says that without such controls, products such as Irish beef, which should be subject to tariffs when entering Wales, England or Scotland, could cross from Northern Ireland to ports such as Liverpool tariff-free.
“That would have a devastating impact on UK farmers given we would be subject to full tariffs being charged on our own exports, and it would also open a back-door to tariff-free imports from parts of the EU other than the Republic,” he said.
The union says that preparations to enforce such controls appeared to be 'minimal' despite the 31 October Brexit date and obligations under WTO rules to ensure compliance with tariff rules.
It also says this 'failure' could amount to the ‘decriminalisation’ of smuggling into Britain.
Mr Roberts added: “We have already discussed with others the possibility of legal action if this happens and we are confident that it would be an open-and-shut case.
“The obvious way around this is to ensure that we do not leave the EU without a deal, as continues to be threatened by the Prime Minister despite the legislation that has been put in place to prevent this happening.”
