UK: Scotland Farmers Welcome Defra Decision to Halt EU Seed Potato Imports

The National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland has welcomed the decision taken by Defra to end the six-month authorization that had allowed imports of seed potatoes from Europe (EU) to Great Britain (GB) at a time when exports from GB to EU were not permitted. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Europe, announced at the end of 2020, failed to agree equivalence on seed potatoes, resulting in significant prohibitions on Scottish seed exports to the EU and, by extension, Northern Ireland.

The consequence for growers was immediate and grave according to NFU Scotland. When the UK exited the EU, the UK government granted a 6-month extension that allowed the import of EU seed potatoes to GB. The UK government has previously applied for equivalence on seed potatoes, and this application has been rejected.

The union hopes the decision taken by the UK government not to extend authorization to EU seed imports will bring fresh impetus to talks that will agree equivalence and allow Scottish seed potato exports to resume.

Chair of NFU Scotland’s Potatoes working group, Mike Wilson said: “We are delighted that the principle of seed potato trade between the EU and GB having to go ‘both ways or no-ways’ has been upheld by Defra. We welcome that the UK government’s allowance for EU seed potatoes to be sold to GB has now officially been ended. This means that potato growers throughout Britain will have to source their seed from within Britain, which is good news for Scotland’s seed potato sector."

The GB market is quite different from the EU market, so the potato sector has quite a task on its hands to develop and supply this internal market.

“This will not be an easy task as the EU Commission has made it very clear on several occasions that the seed potato trade is a casualty of Brexit.”