Trade bodies issue statement on UK trade policy post-Brexit
The joint statement was issued to secretary of states and ministers at the Department for Exiting the European Union, the Department for International Trade, and the Department for Business and Industrial Strategy.
The statement said: “Much of the food supply chain is domestically based, and our organisation are committed to domestic production that is competitive and profitable and fully meets the demands of British consumers.
“Nevertheless, we cannot operate in isolation. Our farmers need imported feeds and inputs and they need access to other markets for their products, especially where demands for these in the UK is insufficient.”
In the statement, the bodies call on the government to adopt approaches including avoiding customs duties on trade by securing a bilateral free trade agreement with the EU that delivers a two-way tariff-free trade and securing benefits for UK traders of existing EU trade agreements.
The statement stress the importance of the UK food supply chain as it employs 3.9 million people and generates £108 billion in value.