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Trading arrangements which allow cheap food imports into Britain after Brexit would be “devastating” for NI farms, the chief executive of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has warned.
Wesley Aston said that there is a risk the UK will give third countries market access for lower standard food products, especially if trade negotiations with the EU break down.
“If we get the wrong sort of trade deal with the EU, if the [Ireland/NI] protocol has to be implemented, and depending on how UK trade deals with third countries go, it could be devastating for us in terms of additional costs and having much more competition in the market,” he said.
“The simple solution for us is that we want the UK to have as close a future trading arrangement with the EU as it does at present,” Aston told Stormont’s agriculture committee last week.
While the UK government has committed to upholding food import standards, Aston pointed out that attempts to put it into legislation have so far been unsuccessful: “We have to hold them to that.”
His other main Brexit concern relates to NI companies selling into the British market under the Ireland/NI protocol element of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The UFU chief suggested there is a risk that the protocol could result in obstacles to goods moving from NI to Britain, especially if the UK and EU fail to agree a comprehensive trade deal.
“While in theory we will have unfettered legislative access, if there is additional hassle and costs, we will find ourselves at a disadvantage in comparison to our competitors. We would have concerns about the commercial realities of this,” Aston said.
Since the meeting last week a row has erupted over whether the UK government might look to change aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement if there is no trade deal with the EU. Whether it is a negotiating tactic, or a firm commitment to ensure the future smooth operation of the UK internal market, remains to be seen.
Guarantee
The Ireland/NI protocol also guarantees NI firms access to the EU market, regardless of the outcome of trade negotiations between the UK and EU.
However, the ability of NI firms to avail of trade deals that the EU has with third countries is less clear.
“We can continue to use third country ones that are there at the moment, but there is a question of whether we can be part of new EU trade deals. That is something that we are getting very mixed signals about,” Aodhán Connolly from the NI Retail Consortium told MLAs last week.
“I would assume that, given the competitive advantage that it would put us at, there will be people that will not want us to be part of those new EU trade deals,” he suggested.
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