PRIME TIME AHEAD FOR FOOD PRODUCERS IN SOUTH WEST, SAYS TRADE SECRETARY
Trade Secretary Liz Truss tells Athwenna Irons there are many exciting opportunities ahead for SW farmers to sell high-end produce in new overseas markets
SOUTH West farmers and food producers are in a prime position to satisfy the global demand for high quality products including dairy and grass-fed beef, the International Trade Secretary has said, at what is a “hugely exciting time” for the region.
Fresh from securing the UK’s first major free trade agreement as an independent trading nation with Japan, Liz Truss was in Cornwall last Friday to see first-hand the agricultural exporting potential of the county and discuss future opportunities for growth.
During her visit, Ms Truss was joined by Environment Secretary George Eustice for a brief tour of the Rodda’s Creamery in Scorrier, which is already successfully tapping into the lucrative Japanese market with its traditional Cornish clotted cream.
With support from the Department for International Trade (DIT), the family-run company recently secured a new deal with Japanese importer Mangos Limited, resulting in over £60,000 worth of business since July this year.
Speaking to the WMN at Rodda’s, Ms Truss said: “The South West is known for its dairy products and Rodda’s is a global name that people recognise as being very high quality, Cornish [produce] and people want to buy into it.
“Rodda’s is very popular in Japan with people who enjoy afternoon tea and the United States is also a big opportunity for them. One of the things I am working on at the moment is a UK-US trade deal to make it easier to get products in.”
While in Cornwall, Ms Truss also visited the Davidstow Creamery near Camelford, manufacturers of the award-winning cheddar brand, Cathedral City, which is set to be launched in America for the first time later this year.
Owned by Saputo Dairy UK, the cheddar is expected to be available in over 2,000 stores by the Thanksgiving Holiday in November.
Asked if the South West has the potential to become a global brand in its own right, Ms Truss said: “I think it’s a combination of the British brand, which represents quality and tradition, that people are very excited about. And also with us having our own independent trade policy it’s now easier, or should be easier, to get those products into those markets.
“I think the world wants more high quality products and the products produced here in Cornwall are second to none. Rodda’s is a fantastic product and loved the world over, while Davidstow again also produces a fantastic product. There is growing demand for these products.”
She added: “We’ve got a few more deals in the pipeline. We’re currently working with Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
“I’m also working on accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership which is 11 fast-growing Pacific nations, so there’s a lot going on at the moment.
“If you take the Davidstow Creamery for example, over 300 local farmers supply their milk to make the cheese. If Davidstow is able to expand, by having more overseas opportunities, then that means more farmers are able to sell their milk [to
The world wants more high quality products and the products produced here are second to none LIZ TRUSS
Davidstow] and have a good livelihood.
“I think that is the future of farming, producing those high quality products that people want to buy both here in the UK and around the world.”
Ms Truss, who served as Environment Secretary for two years from July 2014 until July 2016, was also confident about the opportunities available to South West beef farmers in supplying the USA with prime high quality, grass-fed cuts. It follows last week’s announcement that the first shipments of British beef are now being prepared for travel across the Atlantic, after four processing plants in Northern Ireland and Wales were listed by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service as eligible to export UK beef to the USA.
America confirmed plans to lift its 24-year exclusion of British beef imports in March, following a threeweek inspection in 2019. Beef from the UK had been banned from entering the USA since 1996 following an outbreak of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), commonly known as Mad Cow Disease.
Ms Truss said: “There’s lots of opportunities in the USA. In particular, there’s a very strong growth market for high-end, high welfare, grassfed beef, so I think that’s a big opportunity for South West farmers. One of the things I am looking to do in a US trade deal is reduce the tariff. Currently it varies according to the cut, but its about 26%. There’s also a 25% tariff on cheese which we are looking to eliminate and make it more cost-effective for producers to ship over there.
“Of course British lamb is still banned, so we want to get the ban on that removed, as the US is the second largest importer of lamb in the world.”
According to Government analysis, businesses in the South West exported goods worth over £600 million to Japan in 2019, with the region’s dairy and egg industries exporting £700,000 worth of produce to Japan in the same year.
Two thirds of all dairy products exported from the UK to the US are
Rodda’s is very popular in Japan with people who enjoy afternoon tea and the US is also a big opportunity for them
exported by the South West, and the South West’s economy is expected to grow by £284 million as a result of a future UK-US free trade agreement.
Ms Truss has repeatedly said she will not compromise on Britain’s high food production standards in securing future trade deals, with her words being backed by the launch of the long called for Trade and Agriculture Commission in July.
She said: “It’s a really important principle that if we’re asking our farmers in Britain to operate by certain rules and regulations, what we can’t have is those standards being undermined by any trade deals we strike, so it’s all about making sure the detail of any deal is right.”