The European Commission's chief negotiator for the UK's departure from the EU, Michel Barnier, visited Spain this week and held a meeting with heads of business and sector organizations, including FEPEX. The meeting was organised by the Commission Representation in Madrid and the objective was to learn first-hand about the main concerns and uncertainties of Spanish exporters and service providers regarding the Brexit.
FEPEX, together with Cooperativas Agroalimentarias and the FIAB, represented the Spanish agro-food sector at the meeting and told Michel Barnier about the main risks of Brexit for the sector from the following points of view: commercial, Common Agricultural Policy, pound behaviour and regulatory and phytosanitary.
As regards the commercial aspect, one of the possible effects of Brexit in the agro-food sector would be the return of customs duties, which would entail trade restrictions. The most affected sectors would be fruit and vegetables, wine, olive oil and pork meat.
From the point of view of the Common Agricultural Policy, the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU will lead to a reduction of the Community budget, which would affect the financing of the CAP, taking into account that its net contribution amounts to 10 billion Euro per year.
As for the currency, the main impact would come from the decline in the value of the pound sterling, leading to a considerable reduction in the competitiveness of the companies in the sector. Lastly, from a legal point of view, there are concerns about the possibility that many existing regulations and standards in many areas won't be maintained, which would generate a great disparity in the regulations and could lead to a unilateral reduction of the standards by the British side that would lead to a regulatory dumping.
FEPEX considers it a priority for fruit and vegetables to be exempt from the payment of any tariff duties, considering how important these are, both for the British consumer, since Spain is its largest supplier, and for Spanish producers, with exports worth 1,762 million Euros in 2016.
Source: fepex.es
