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The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Michael Creed has said that in the case of a Brexit crash-out and WTO tariffs being applied, it would add €1.7bn to our exports into the UK market.
He said he briefed the Cabinet today on the impact WTO tariffs could have on Irish exports to the UK. He called the situation an "existential challenge."
“What is unfortunate at this stage is that there is no clear line of sight of how the UK will respond in terms of detail. Will they apply tariffs? Obviously, that’s a critical issue; €1.7bn is a real challenge for us in terms of the UK market,” the minister said.
The figure reaffirms Irish Farmers Journal analysis on the devastating impact a no-deal Brexit could have on the Irish beef price.
“Our ambition is to ride out that difficulty, retain a foothold in that market that has been hard won.
“That being said, not applying tariffs could be equally damaging because the obligation is that zero tariffs would be applicable to every third country and the value of the market in the UK could be consequently undermined by third country imports.”
He added that the figure on tariffs on beef is in the region of €700m.
Border checks
Border checks will be confined to east-west checks on produce crossing the Irish Sea, according to Minister Creed.
Responding to a question from the Irish Farmers Journal, he said: “There will be no border infrastructure; what I’m talking about is our east-west imports.”
However, he did add the caveat of speaking exclusively about UK imports to Ireland and that staffing requirements at border inspections posts at Dublin Airport, Dublin Port and Rosslare would have the necessary levels of staff.
“But we do not know what their [UK] ask will be in terms of certification of all our other products that are exported into the UK market but as that becomes clear to us we have the capacity to ramp up provisions,” Minister Creed said.
Exceptional aid
The European Commission is also aware of Ireland’s vulnerability to a fallout from Brexit, according to Minister Creed.
The minister said that the Commission was ready to help Irish farmers.
“In the context of the worst-case scenario there may be a requirement for exceptional aid and we’ve seen also the Commission respond in similar situations, for example the Russia ban,” Minister Creed said.
“I am satisfied that the Commission is ready to respond. We’re also looking for flexibilities around state aid so that the state may be able to intervene and in terms of the de minimus limits, the Commission is indicating a willingness to raise the de minimus limits.”
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