Deal welcome but still room for changes
For the agricultural sector the good news is that the UK-EU deal enables trade without implementing any tariffs or quotas, meaning trading dynamics of agri-food products to and from the EU will remain largely unchanged.
However, there will be the introduction of non-tariff barriers, for example administrative work at customs borders, which will increase the friction of trading slightly but, fortunately, not seriously. The new Rules of Origin, which set out what percentage of a traded product must derive from the trading country, could create problems for companies which trade processed products.
There is a substantial inclusion within the deal of an intent to cooperate on important emerging issues such as sustainable food systems, climate change, antimicrobial resilience and animal welfare, pointing to a future in which the UK and the EU together intend to lead internationally on agri-environmental standards.
There is reason to think that this deal reduces the desire and need for a UK-USA trade deal – it will be interesting to see the impact of the deal on the development of ‘Global Britain’. It provides certainty for businesses, and is welcomed as an alternative to the potential supply-chain chaos of no deal. However, there is still a lot of room for changes and certain aspects are by no means set in stone.
Rhydian Scurlock-Jones is head of rural at Savills in Telford
