The Scottish Government has called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to put measures in place preventing UK producers from importing European-grown seed potatoes in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Rural Affairs Minister Gougeon pointed out that Defra’s current arrangements meant Scotland would become a third country and therefore unable to export seed potatoes to the EU, yet the ware potato and processing industry could continue to import European seed potatoes for a year following the exit.
Ms Gougeon said that by allowing this one-way trading relationship, Scotland’s world-renowned seed potato industry risked losing its 13.5% EU market share and there would be little incentive to fill the internal UK market demand through the sourcing of Scottish seed potatoes.
Ms Gougeon wrote a letter to Mr Gove, stating: “There is the potential to mitigate the risk of this loss in the immediate aftermath of a disorderly exit by encouraging a greater UK market, where domestic importers would no longer be able to import from the EU. That is something the UK Government could choose to make happen.”
Organic seed potato producer and exporter Andrew Skea, who farms East Mains near Dundee, told Ms Gougeon he didn’t know if the varieties he currently grows for the German market were worth planting in the spring. “If we’re not going to have access to Germany next season, there’s no point in planting them. This is a relatively buoyant potato year but if you have a variety no one in the UK has heard of, they won’t want to buy it and it will just be fed to the cows.”
Source: pressandjournal.co.uk
