It’s hard to believe it’s almost 10 years since the UK voted to leave the European Union in the famous Brexit referendum of June 2016.
There was a lot of speculation at the time around the immediate impact on beef prices due to the UK’s ability to complete free trade deals with third countries and the possibility of Ireland having to pay trade tariffs on beef exported to the UK.
While the threat of tariffs on Irish beef has abated, the UK’s ability to complete trade deals with other countries remains real, and the impact beginning to be felt 10 years on.
The 2021 trade deal allowed for increased, tariff-free quotas and a removal of all tariffs over an eight- to 10-year period on beef and sheep meat. Other countries have also increased their market share of the UK beef import market.
In the 10 months to the end of October, Brazilian beef imports have increased by 125% to 9,421t.
Australian imports are up 172% to 11,806t and New Zealand imports have risen 248% to 10,960t.
The big loser in the increased beef imports from these countries has been Ireland. Ireland still remains the largest exporter of beef to the UK market, but our market share of beef imports has fallen from 77% to 68% in the last 12 months.
The 2025 data will come as a concern to Irish farmers. Price has been the main driver of the increased imported product with beef from Brazil, Australia and New Zealand coming in much cheaper than Irish product.
While much of the increased product has entered the food service market, major UK retailers have also started to stock the imported product on supermarket shelves which is another worry for Irish producers.
It’s hard to believe it’s almost 10 years since the UK voted to leave the European Union in the famous Brexit referendum of June 2016.
There was a lot of speculation at the time around the immediate impact on beef prices due to the UK’s ability to complete free trade deals with third countries and the possibility of Ireland having to pay trade tariffs on beef exported to the UK.
While the threat of tariffs on Irish beef has abated, the UK’s ability to complete trade deals with other countries remains real, and the impact beginning to be felt 10 years on.
The 2021 trade deal allowed for increased, tariff-free quotas and a removal of all tariffs over an eight- to 10-year period on beef and sheep meat. Other countries have also increased their market share of the UK beef import market.
In the 10 months to the end of October, Brazilian beef imports have increased by 125% to 9,421t.
Australian imports are up 172% to 11,806t and New Zealand imports have risen 248% to 10,960t.
The big loser in the increased beef imports from these countries has been Ireland. Ireland still remains the largest exporter of beef to the UK market, but our market share of beef imports has fallen from 77% to 68% in the last 12 months.
The 2025 data will come as a concern to Irish farmers. Price has been the main driver of the increased imported product with beef from Brazil, Australia and New Zealand coming in much cheaper than Irish product.
While much of the increased product has entered the food service market, major UK retailers have also started to stock the imported product on supermarket shelves which is another worry for Irish producers.
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