Trade deal sows the seeds for potato exports to China

A trade deal with China signed yesterday means that Scottish seed potatoes can now be exported to the world’s biggest potato producing country for the first time.

The Scottish Government said that the agreement was further international recognition of Scotland’s high-health status and global reputation for producing high quality seed potatoes.

Rural Economy Secre- tary Fergus Ewing said it was good news for seed producers and could lead to further sustainable growth in the sector which already exports around 300,000 tonnes of seed annually.

Rob Burns, head of crops export trade development with the Agriculoktural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB), said it was a real coup to be one of the first western countries able to export seed to China.

Closely involved in developing the market he said that the AHDB had funded several missions to China to seek out such markets:

“And it’s been achieved partly through a lot of hard work and partly through the great reputation of Scottish seed potatoes which are rightly renowned around the world for their high health status and high quality.

“I expect the Chinese market will be particularly interested in processing varieties used for chips and crisps as there is a big demand for those products.”