Brexit: “The biggest sector that’ll be affected is food”

“Currency is going to play a big role after Brexit. As a consequence of the ‘expensive’ euro, the food sector and industry will be affected most,” says Madeline Buijs of Dutch bank ABN AMRO during the Brexit session. ABN AMRO has established which sectors will be much affected after Brexit by means of four factors. “Not just the expensive euro will hit the food sector, but expected waiting times in Calais and Dover will be disastrous for fresh products.”

“The UK is in third place of countries the Netherlands does most trade with,” Madeline says. “The trade with the UK is good for 62 billion euro, and the majority of that is export from the Netherlands.” When everyone returns to the WTO Accords after Brexit, it could result in a loss of as much as two per cent for the Dutch GDP by 2030, according to calculations of the ABN AMRO. In the UK, this could even result in a loss of 8.7 per cent of GDP. When the FTA regulations are implemented after Brexit, this could result in a maximum loss of 1.2 per cent for the Netherlands, and a loss of 5.9 per cent in the UK.

“In 2017, 4.6 million tonnes were transported to and from the UK by lorry. These 4.6 million tonnes is three per cent of the total Dutch international transport per lorry. Of the 4.6 million tonnes, the majority consists of agrarian products. These figures show the Dutch food and transport sectors are much dependent on the UK. Shipping agents are also going to notice Brexit. It’s expected formalities are only going to increase for shipping agents after Brexit,” says the ABN AMRO.

“Brexit will also have major consequences for ports in the Netherlands. The port most dependent on the UK is Vlaardingen with 83 per cent. The second dependent port is Vlissingen/Terneuzen with 20 per cent, and Rotterdam comes third with 13 per cent. The effect on all Dutch ports will result in 4.4 per cent loss with WTO, and 2.6 per cent loss with FTA,” says Madeline.