While he welcomed the UK’s calls to avoid border checks with the Republic of Ireland, Healy warned that it was difficult to see how this could be achieved in practice, when aspects such as food safety and animal health are taken into account.

“If the UK insists on pursuing its own free trade agreements, two divergent regimes would have to operate on the island and it is impossible to see how border checks could be avoided,” Healy said at the Virginia Show this Wednesday. “The UK will have to compromise on their future trade ambitions with third countries in the area of agricultural and food products.”

The potential displacement of Irish food exports from the UK market will in turn destabilise the EU market balance

He re-stated the IFA’s position that the EU and the UK should negotiate a free trade agreement, including tariff-free trade and equivalent standards of agri-food products, as well as a single tariff policy between the EU-UK bloc and other trading partners around the world.

This is in the interest of the wider EU beyond Ireland, Healy argued, saying: “Any increase in low-cost food imports into the UK that would undermine the value of the UK market would have a devastating effect on the Irish agri-food sector. The potential displacement of Irish food exports from the UK market will in turn destabilise the EU market balance.”

Milk prices

On milk prices, Healy said the 10c/l average increase in milk prices in the past year was welcomed.

“However, dairy farmers are only just now able to catch up with the three years of cashflow difficulties,” he added.

With average EU prices at 35c/l, he called on processors to apply further price increases in the coming months.

“Between 35% and 40% of our milk supplies will be produced in the August-December period. Every possible price increase will make a significant difference to farmers’ financial position,” the IFA president said.

We are as unclear today as we were the day after the referendum

Also speaking at the Virginia Show, ICMSA president John Comer said: "We’ve about 18 months to go to Brexit and, bluntly, we are as unclear today as we were the day after the referendum result was announced." He added that the range of farmers and businesses present at the show was a reminder to every politician of "the scale of damage that could be done to rural industries and to farm families in every corner of Ireland, but most particularly in the northern half of the country and along the Border regions".

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Existing approvals should remain valid after Brexit – position papers

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