From 1 January, the UK will introduce a 260,000t tariff-free quota on raw cane sugar imports. The move will see UK farmers, already working on tight margins of approximately £20/t, compete against sub-standard imports on price.

EU farmers must now also compete with these imports. France supplies around 500,000t of sugar produced from beet to the UK, but after Brexit, there is expected to be a bigger move to cane sugar.

British Sugar produced approximately 1.2m tonnes of sugar from home-grown sugar beet in recent years, but as farmers struggle on margins before the non-tariff quota, this number may decline. Tate & Lyle, based in London, is one company that uses sugar cane, the product which will benefit from the tariff-free quota.

The National Farmers Union has said that the quota will put significant pressure on sugar producers.

Michael Sly, chairperson of the NFU’s Sugar Board, said the UK is one of the most efficient sugar producers in the world.

He also noted that, in its own policy, the UK government stated that the decision “allows the importation of food products that have been treated with pesticides containing active substances that have not been approved for that use domestically.”