No-deal Brexit ‘a real danger’
The worse-case scenario for the UK sheep sector – a “no deal” on Brexit – is a real possibility for which the sheep sector needs to be prepared, producers were warned this week.
Speaking at the National Sheep Association’s “Sheep 18” event, the organisation’s chief executive Phil Stocker said that, with more than 35 per cent of all UK lamb heading to the continent, no-one in the industry wanted a “no deal” Brexit.
“However, it would be irresponsible not to be ready and prepare for this possibility,” he said. “That means stepping up efforts to open up new export markets outside of the EU, doing much more to boost domestic demand for sheepmeat, and protecting ourselves from imports.”
He said that these were all things which would also make sense for the sector even if a good deal was secured: “So it’s a win-win to put the work in now.”
Opening the event after farm minister George Eustice was unable to attend due to the on-going Brexit negotiations in Parliament, Stocker said: “Brexit negotiations could still go very badly wrong and there is a risk we could crash out, fall back to WTO rules and face huge trade disruption – and that is why it’s important to prepare for a no deal.”
And while crunch time for the decision makers was approaching he said: “Words are easy to say. Putting them into action is another matter and that is where we now need to focus our attention.”
On a positive note he said that taking back control of some regulatory functions, linked to a growing change of attitude within government departments towards supporting the industry “rather than constantly being fearful of compliance with EU regulations”, offered considerablel opportunities.