Brexit could be a mixed blessing for potato sector

While the wider potato industry might be much less exposed to some of the post-brexit trade risks which could be disastrous for other sectors of agriculture, the industry still faces many challenges in the coming years.

Speaking at the country’s foremost sector event, Potatoes in Practice, held outside Dundee yesterday, David Swales, head of strategic insight with the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), said that, while most other areas of agriculture needed frictionless trade with the EU to remain viable, “a bit of friction” would actually be good for ware growers.

“The domestic market is very important for those who grow ware crops – and as the country also imports a lot of value added processed potato products, import substitution would offer considerable opportunities for this sector of the UK potato industry,” he said.

However, he admitted that the situation was slightly different for Scotland, where a deal of the focus was on seed production: “And while trade barriers could impact on business with the EU itself, on the wider front a lot of our seed export deals hinge on trade deals hammered out as part of the EU. When we leave these could be at risk.”

Swales said that without a deal similar to that already standing, those supplying seed to existing important markets such as Morocco could face tariffs of up 40 per cent to get seed into that country.

However all was not doom and gloom on the seed export front, with Rob Clayton, sector strategy director with AHDB Potatoes, stating that a greater appreciation of what Scotland had to offer in many third countries could lead to new markets.

He said that a deal had been struck with Brazil which had seen a harmonisation of seed certification standards, opening doors to supplying seed to the country which currently produces 3.6 million tonnes of potatoes a year.