We are not surprisingly looking at the Brexit manoeuvres and machinations in the UK with a mixture of fascination and horror.

The consequences for Ireland and our agriculture are enormous, especially if the UK crashes out without a deal.

But it’s not the only trade discussion going on.

The long-awaited talks between the US and Europe are being teed up, but the surprising aspect of the preparatory exchanges is the insistence by the EU that agriculture is not to be included. Under the existing arrangements, some agricultural trade between the two blocks takes place, but it’s usually for limited quantities, with heavy tariffs applied to anything over the agreed amounts.

This is precisely how the trade in dairy products operates.

Comprehensive

The US has long been pressing for a full comprehensive trade deal with the EU as a block and I have heard many US speakers at various conferences say that if agriculture is not included in the discussions, there will not be a deal.

Not surprisingly, US agricultural interests have reacted to the initial EU stance with horror, but what do they expect? With President Trump in charge, Europe has seen unilateral tariffs imposed on its steel imports but in farming, it’s very clear that the two groups are poles apart in the attitude to advances in crop and animal husbandry and that they are growing further apart.

It’s not just in relation to the universal application of GM technology in US crop production, but also the lack of individual animal identification on the cattle side as well as the legal use of clenbuterol in pigmeat and beef production, coupled with different washing techniques in the poultry industry.

But underneath all this there is another development happening in the food market.

Europe is now running a substantial and growing surplus from the export of quality-assured food.

All over the world there is a growing realisation that Europe’s quality standards set its food apart from the general run of the mill.

We may be used to this line of thought in relation to infant formula going to China, but Kerrygold is now the largest imported butter brand into the US.

Anyone that has observed the US food consumer will realise that the caricature of the obese American citizen is by no means universal, with a growing awareness of healthy eating and the difference between high-quality and run-of-the-mill food.

As these trends develop, it becomes more and more difficult to see how the US agribusiness industry can hope to have free access to the broad European food market, even with clear compulsory labelling.

While the European Commission may be on the right track in saying that agriculture cannot be included in the talks, there is still the clear difficulty of ensuring that EU farmers get paid for the quality they produce.

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