Thirty-six organizations representing the UK’s food and farming industry, including the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), recently issued a joint statement setting out what they want delivered as the Government formulates its post-Brexit policy.
In the statement, the industry called on the Government to seek to achieve a number of high level aims as it negotiates the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, establishes its future relationship with the EU and puts in place domestic policies.
For the feed industry, the most important priorities set out in the statement are:
- To maintain free and frictionless trade with our major trading partner, the EU, and to secure the benefits of existing EU preferential trade arrangements with other countries’ and
- To ensure businesses operate under an efficient and proportionate regulatory system that is centered on scientific evaluation and that incentivises innovation and competitiveness’.
Free and frictionless trade
George Perrott, former head of the AIC’s Feed Sector, told this publication that maintaining “free and frictionless trade” with the EU was the number one priority because of the international nature of trade within the feed sector.
“Not only do we import significant quantities of raw ingredients from the EU, but we also purchase raw material from outside the EU via EU ports. In addition, there is two way trade between the UK and Europe in finished materials,” he explained.
How free and frictionless trade is to be achieved is a matter for the Brexit negotiators to address, he said.
“However, we believe that keeping such matters as customs procedures, tariffs and phytosanitary regulations to the minimum necessary is vital,” he added.
He said the AIC - which operates feed assurance schemes such as FEMAS, TASCC and UFAS - is already working to ensure mutual recognition across Europe between similar schemes is maintained.
“Such schemes can minimize the need for border checks,” he explained.
Proportionate and pragmatic regulatory system
The second most important objective for the feed industry is to have a “proportionate regulatory system that delivers policy requirements in a pragmatic manner”.
“To have regulation based on science, rather than political opinion, is essential,” said Perrott.
Besides the objectives agreed with the broader UK food and farming industry, the feed industry has its own interests to promote and protect in the Government’s Brexit negotiations.
One area the AIC cites as critical for the UK feed industry is investment in R&D, which underpins progress in livestock efficiency and environmental protection.
Safeguarding R&D investment
“In recent years, much has been achieved by EU funding, often within UK research establishments. Brexit must not allow this critical work to reduce or stop,” said Perrott.
He surmised that this would require a blend of UK government investment in UK research, along with agreements on knowledge sharing between the EU and the UK where there is a common interest.
At present, however, any ideas about how post-Brexit policy will look are only conjecture and this is fostering a mood of uncertainty that Perrott said is increasing as Brexit draws nearer.
“It is hard to sign up to forward supply contracts that will come into force post-Brexit when there is no indication of whether tariffs or border controls will apply,” he noted.