EU agri food exports to the UK were down by €806m in the first four months of 2021, a 6% decline on the same period in 2020.

There was however an 8.5% increase in April compared with the same month last year, though this can be attributed to April 2020 being the month when the full impact of COVID-19 lockdown was being felt across Europe.

Overall, EU agri food exports were €63bn for the period between January and April 2021, an increase of 1.7% on the corresponding period in 2020.

Despite the decline, the UK remains the EU’s top export destination for agri food at €12.5bn. Exports to the next largest market, the US, were €7.4bn – a 7.1% increase on the corresponding period in 2020. There was a 16.4% increase to €6.5bn in exports to China for the first four months of 2021.

EU imports from UK

There has been an even more dramatic decline in EU imports from the UK between January and April 2021. Imports from the UK are down 36.9% to €3.2bn – a €1.8bn decline on the same period last year. This is also reflected in UK food and Drink export figures for the first quarter of 2021, which show a 47% decline compared with the first quarter of 2020.

UK exporters to the EU have had to deal with full border controls since 1 January 2021, while EU exporters will have to deal with UK border controls from 1 October, with physical checks being introduced on 1 January 2022. These are expected to have a further negative impact on EU exports to the UK.

Irish impact

Imposition of full border controls by the UK will have a particular impact on Irish exports to Britain, especially for goods of animal or plant origin.

Those of animal origin will require veterinary documentation, and while it is a procedure that Irish exporters are familiar with in relation to trade beyond the EU, the sheer volume required will be both a logistical burden and an additional cost.

Had UK agreed to a veterinary alignment (as is the case between the EU and Switzerland), then this could have been avoided.

Political tensions

While both UK and EU politicians are on their summer break, it is clear that there will be further discussions come the autumn. The Command paper released by the UK last week is a rewrite of the NI Protocol and irrespective of what the UK signed up to in that deal, the reality is the EU will require the UK to enforce the agreement. Therefore it cannot effectively operate without UK buy in. The suspension of legal action by the EU this week against the UK may be a sign that talks can be productive.

It is very much in the interest of farmers on the island of Ireland that they are.