The border to Northern Ireland will open for seed potatoes from Scotland from next autumn. This was announced by the UK's agriculture minister last week. However, the decision does not provide great relief. The border to the EU remains closed and that is what Scottish seed potato growers had to rely on before Brexit.
Scotland accounts for approximately 75% of the seed potatoes exported from the UK. In the 2020/21 season, seed potatoes were exported to Northern Ireland and eighteen different EU countries, among others. Both of these markets disappeared as of January 2021 due to Brexit. It is great that seed potatoes can be shipped to Northern Ireland again from next season, but this does not help Scottish seed potato growers enough, says parliamentarian for the SNP (Scottish National Party) Richard Thomson. "This is a step forward and I am pleased that after a lot of lobbying there is finally clarity when Scottish seed potatoes can return to Northern Ireland."
Ignorance and clumsiness
According to Thomson, the fact that seed potatoes are allowed to go to Northern Ireland again is nothing more than a first step. "Scottish growers want to resume exports to the EU before they permanently lose these markets," various English media report from Thomson. "We know, for example, that the Irish government has released €3 million to give its own potato industry a push in the right direction. They saw Brexit as an opportunity for their own sector and you can also expect that from a country government that has its own agricultural sector takes seriously." The fact that Scotland has lost access to the important European sales market is proof of the conservative government's incompetence and bungling, according to the parliamentarian.
It is difficult to estimate whether and what the Dutch seed potato sector will notice about the return of Scottish seed potatoes to the EU. The NAO figures show that since Brexit, significantly less seed potatoes are sent from the Netherlands to the UK. While before Brexit more than 15.000 tons went to the UK - in terms of volume the UK was comparable to Poland and Turkey - so far this season the counter has remained below 5.000 tons.