Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed has said that a “no-deal is the worst possible deal for the agri-food sector both in Ireland and in the UK”.
According to the Irish Independent, Minister Creed was speaking at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce this morning (5th Sept) and highlighted the importance of the working trade deal.
He highlighted that Ireland remains the biggest source of UK food imports, in particular, beef and dairy.
Interdependency
He emphasised that agri-food trade between the two nations is not ‘one-way traffic’, with imports from the UK costing Ireland approximately €4 billion a year.
“It would almost certainly result in the imposition of tariffs on food exports in both directions in addition to non-tariff barriers such as customs inspection formalities,” he said.
“This would be a damaging combination of additional with would damage food business in both jurisdictions.”
He highlighted Ireland’s efforts in forming a contingency plan, raising the competitiveness of the country’s agri-food sector and stressed the government’s desire to secure the best outcome possible from Brexit negotiations.
The Minister was supported by Tara McCarthy, CEO of Bord Bia, and Patrick Coveney, the CEO of Greencore, who both gave a presentation at the Chamber.
The Chamber called on the government to produce Brexit-proof measures for the agri-food sector in the upcoming Budget 2019.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
