There is still little prospect of agreement between the EU and the UK on trade between seed potatoes.
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If no agreement is reached on the phytosanitary framework conditions for imports and exports, there is a good chance that seed exports from EU countries to the UK will be resolutely locked down on 1 July. Dick Hylkema, director of the Dutch Potato Organisation (NAO), fears this.
Nao is the trade association of trading companies in seed and consumer potatoes. Many of the affiliated companies export both inside and outside the EU, including to the UK. Brexit has therefore been high on the organisation's agenda for years.
The Brexit deal struck by the European Union and the UK in December was broadly welcomed by the Dutch agri-food sector. The business community would rather not have Brexit at all, but with the December deal, the disaster was manageable. In any case, import duties and trade quotas were eliminated.
However, nao director Hylkema says: "Somehow seed potatoes have fallen outside the trade agreement. In fact, there is a hard Brexit for this segment of the potato sector. It is precisely for breeding that free trade in seed potatoes is vital. That is not the case now."
As of 1 January this year, the European border for British seed potatoes is closed. With a few exceptions (Switzerland, for example), the EU does not allow imports of seed potatoes from third countries. Since the beginning of this year, the UK is about a third country. Seed potatoes grown in the EU will still be allowed to go to Britain freely until 1 July 2021. It is still unclear what will happen after that date. The UK is expected to close the border to seed potatoes from the Netherlands and other EU countries.
Dutch companies exported between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes of seed potatoes to the UK in recent years. Annual exports from the Netherlands to third countries (400,000 tonnes) represent about 5% of the volume. Conversely, from the UK to the EU, trade is around 30,000 tonnes a year, including to the Netherlands.
An important part of this crop is concentrated in Scotland. There have been intensive relationships between the seed sector in the Netherlands and those in Scotland for decades. These links are important for the development of new varieties and are now in danger of being broken. A number of Dutch companies have their own branches in Scotland and their future is uncertain.
Companies in EU Member States can therefore deliver to UK customers until 1 July. If Brussels sticks to its import freeze for Britain's leg-poo growers, the UK will lock up imports after July 1, Hylkema fears. Or the British are making such high phytosanitary requirements that exports become effectively impossible.
Almost all seed companies in the EU suffer from border problems. "But the Netherlands especially, given the size of the seed trade between them. That is why we are doing everything we can to get the authorities in Brussels and London moving."
The NAO is in discussions with, among others, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Nature, the Umbrella of Potato Trading Companies Europatat and the European agricultural organisation COPA/Cogeca. Hylkema: "Of course, we also approach our contacts in British potato business. Especially from this side, the pressure on the British government must be increased."
Ultimately, it is about the willingness on both sides to come to a solution. The phytosanitary exit situation was the same at the start of Brexit. NAO therefore proposes to grant reciprocal market access for a period of two years to five years. Hylkema: "The installation of a mechanism of repeated renewal prevents the UK from gaining market access to the EU, while at the same time making it impossible to import seed potatoes from the Netherlands and other EU countries. Phytosanitary can be kept a finger on the pulse by this mechanism." ■