Food Drink Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the food and drink sector, has called for a tariff stabilisation fund to help agrifood exporters offset the impact of UK tariffs in the event of a ‘No-deal’ Brexit.
The group has made the call on the back of comments from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom, Michael Gove.
Support Measures
Gove claimed that the UK will apply tariffs to food imports to protect British farmers in a no-deal scenario.
“Direct and immediate support measures are needed to offset these tariffs. For the €4.5 billion of food and drink that Ireland exports to the UK, an additional €1.7 billion in tariffs could be placed by the UK,” FDI Director Paul Kelly said.
“Tariffs are in effect a tax on trade and commerce. They would decimate much of Ireland’s agrifood exports to the UK.
“Tariffs flow back to central exchequers at national and EU level and must be recycled into a tariff stabilisation fund to offset serious damage to exports and job losses.”
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
