British seed potatoes are excluded from the Brexit deal that the United Kingdom and the European Union have concluded. They are not on the list of agricultural products that fall under the trade agreement and will therefore no longer be allowed to enter the EU. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon is furious.
This reports the with the BBC. The impending export ban on British seed potatoes, once the Brexit deal is in force, is a particularly painful blow to the Scottish seed potato sector. They can no longer sell part of their seed potatoes, just over 20%, to the EU. The European mainland is not the largest buyer of British seed potatoes, more than half is exported to Egypt.
Because seed potatoes are an important export product for Scotland, Prime Minister Sturgeon calls the current state of affairs on Twitter "a disastrous outcome of Brexit for Scottish farmers. Just like all other aspects of Brexit that are being forced on Scotland against our will." According to the BBC, it is no coincidence that seed potatoes are excluded from the trade agreement.
This is a disastrous Brexit outcome for Scottish farmers...and like all other aspects of Brexit, foisted on Scotland against our will. https://t.co/jWruc1RL46
- Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 24, 2020
After all, Scotland has been seeking independence for some time, and Prime Minister Sturgeon is also a strong advocate of a break with the United Kingdom. In that light, the fact that the EU has chosen not to include seed potatoes in the deal is a conscious choice. This has everything to do with trade policy to put pressure on the British government.
A level playing field has been a major point of contention in the negotiations between the UK and the EU. It will then take precedence over the EU's demand that future European changes to environmental and labor protection rules must be adopted by the UK. But an important part of Brexit is that the British want to draw up their own rules. It is now formally stated that, according to the EU, the British did not want to comply with 'dynamic coordination'.