IFA calls for EU-UK tariff-free trade

The European Commission must prioritise the continent’s 22 million farmers and 40 million related jobs in its talks with Britain about its exit from the EU, said Joe Healy, IFA president.

Launching IFA’s Brexit strategy, Mr Healy cited ESRI estimates a ‘hard’ Brexit had a potential reduction of EU trade to the UK of over 60% for dairy and 85% for meat. He said it was clear farming and food must be top of the Brexit agenda, not only in Ireland, but at EU level.

“Translating this to an Irish context would mean a fall of €1.5bn in meat exports, with dairy exports falling by over €600m,” he said. “Simply put, no other member state and no other sector is as exposed in these negotiations.