Europatat Members Concerned Over EU-UK Deal

With a home production of about 5.5m tons of fresh and seed potatoes (representing about 10% of the total EU-28 production), the UK imports annually about 255.000 tons (EUR112m) of fresh or seed potatoes, of which around 191,000 tons (EUR84m) are from the EU-27 countries. This means that for the EU-27 the volume/value of fresh and seed potatoes sent to the UK represents around 12% in volume and 13% in value of all its exports.

At the same time, for the UK, these imports represent 75% – both in volume and value – of all its potato imports. Regarding UK potato exports (which total about 295,000 tons and EUR138m), these concern mostly seed potatoes, with almost 70% in volume (around 205,000 tons) and over 60% of value (around EUR84m) which are sent to the EU-27 countries.

According to a press release, Europatat members believe it is of outmost importance for the potato sector that the negotiations result in securing the most stable situation as possible on what refers to volumes and values currently traded, and that the EU-27 operators do not lose competitiveness in the UK and international markets.