Food coalition calls for Brexit Single Market access

The plea for tariff-free access to the Single Market came from the biggest coalition of food producers in the UK’s history. The coalition of 75 organisations, employing 1M people with a value of over £92bn, signed a letter to the prime minister.

The food and farming industry needed access to a “competent and reliable”​ workforce and tariff-free access to the Single Market for it to flourish, claimed the National Farmers Union (NFU). The 75 organisations backed these claims in the letter, but also pledged support for a positive, bold and ambitious vision for the sector, post-Brexit.

‘An enormous opportunity’​

The Brexit vote provided the food and farming sector with “an enormous opportunity”​, claimed NFU president Meurig Raymond. But the industry needed guarantees on labour and trade to deliver those opportunities, he added.

 “To deliver this new future, we must secure the best possible access to the Single Market and continued access to a competent and reliable workforce. Getting this right will set the foundations for a successful new British agricultural policy,”​ Raymond said.

“Agriculture is a litmus-test for the government’s Brexit negotiations. As the sector most heavily impacted by the referendum outcome, if the government can make British farming a success post-Brexit, then it will be the clearest indication that the country can succeed outside Europe.”​

Food security, food safety and food hygiene​

Food security, food safety and hygiene, affordable food and stewardship of the countryside would be at risk if access to labour and the best possible access to the Single Market were lost, the letter said. A Brexit deal that recognised the critical role of the food sector would benefit the UK economy, claimed the NFU.

Meanwhile, domestic growers and farmers face a “catastrophe”​​ if their subsidies are not maintained after Brexit, claimed logistics firm Fowler Welch last month. The firm said food producers were well within their rights to seek subsidies from the money that the UK wouldn’t have to Europe after Brexit.