The Food and Drink Federation pleads with Boris Johnson to ‘urgently’ restarts talks to resolve the sales crisis
Sales of milk and cream from the UK to the EU are down an extraordinary 96%, with chicken and beef sales down by almost 80%, because of Brexit, new figures have shown.
Overall, the trade barriers that were erected in Boris Johnson’s deal have cost exporters over £1.1bn since the start of this year, The Food and Drink Federation says.
The organisation has said that it was “essential” that the UK urgently restarts talks with the EU in order to resolve the crisis, something the Prime Minister has so far refused to do.
This comes after Britons’ prospects of booking a holiday abroad this summer have been given a boost, with the UK government saying that COVID passports will become available “as soon as possible”.
The statistics show clearly how withdrawal from the European Union, rather than the impact of COVID-19, lies behind the collapse in UK exports, since the Brexit transition period ended on the 31st of December.
Food and drink exports into non-EU countries has risen by 8.7%, between February 2020 and February 2021, but had fallen by 40.9% to the EU.
Downing Street has, so far, rebuffed the industry calls to reopen negotiations with the EU, other than trying to resolve the legal crisis that is currently surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol.
But Dominic Goudie, who is the FDF’s head of international trade, has said: “Exports to our biggest market, Ireland, have also dropped more than two thirds.
“UK businesses continue to struggle with inconsistent and incorrect demands at EU borders, and small businesses have been hardest hit due to the collapse of groupage distribution into the EU.
“It is essential that the EU-UK partnership council and its trade specialised committees are convened to urgently address problems.”
The FDF said that exports into the EU had partially bounced back from a 76% fall in January, but HAD remained 41% down on a year ago. In addition:
- Imports from the EU are down 17%, despite an increase from the rest of the world by nearly 6%.
- Imports of pork, chicken and beef had decreased by more than 30%, and fruit and vegetables by 21% and 13% respectively.
This comes after the Daily Mail has reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told an October meeting: “No more ****ing lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands!”
The Brexit trade deal has hit both animal and plant products hardest, because it failed to include an agreement to avoid the form-filling and physical inspections on the so-called sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls.
They are already hurting exporters and deliveries into Northern Ireland, a problem that is set to increase when full Irish Sea checks, and, most crucially, controls on imports from the EU, finally come in.
Last month, a Lords committee warned plant and animal checks would become “a permanent barrier” to trade unless the UK drops its opposition to a different deal.
