UK's £2bn drop in EU exports 'a disaster'
The UK has experienced a £2 billion loss of exports to the EU at the first three months of this year, a number described as a “disaster” by the UK’s Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
According to new figures published by the FDF on Friday, the UK’s food and drink exports to non-EU markets were higher than sales to the EU in the first quarter of 2021.
“The loss of £2 billion of exports to the EU is a disaster for our industry, and is a very clear indication of the scale of losses that UK manufacturers face in the longer-term due to new trade barriers with the EU,” said Dominic Goudie, head of international trade at the FDF.
The FDF, which is an industry lobby group, has revealed that UK sales to the EU has fallen by 47 percent compared with the same period last year, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and post–Brexit trade relations.
Sales to Ireland dropped by more than two thirds over the first three months of this year, while exports to Germany, Spain and Italy plunged by more than 50 percent since March 2020.
UK imports from the EU also experienced a loss of 10 percent, with vegetables, wine and fruit falling between 14% and 20%.
The FDF said the fall in EU–UK trade will be extended “when full checks are implemented at UK borders in 2022.”
Meanwhile, John Whitehead of the Food & Drink Exporters Association criticized the situation, saying that “whilst some of this large drop can be put down to end of year, stockpiling [and] significant business has been lost as a direct result of the additional bureaucracy, customs delays and costs of trading with the EU”.
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