AHDB (Supplementary ABR0037)
AHDB’s purpose is to inspire our farmers, growers and industry to succeed in a rapidly changing world. We are the independent go-to place for trustworthy information and evidence-based research. We equip the industry with easy to use, practical know-how which they can apply straight away to make better decisions and improve their performance.
As well as the key work we do in research and development and knowledge exchange, which address competitiveness, AHDB also seeks to encourage business development through increased exports. Currently, UK exports are heavily dependent on EU markets on average to the tune of 80 per cent. Depending on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations for some form of trade deal, access to these markets may be more difficult than it is at present. This both poses a threat and an opportunity for the UK to develop markets outside the EU as quickly as possible.
Exports and AHDB’s role
Increasing the volume and value of exports is vital to the profitability and viability of our agriculture sectors. AHDB is uniquely placed to provide a platform for exporters to exploit these opportunities, as well as to provide the link with government to support the market access work which is a prerequisite to success in markets outside the EU.
Experience has shown that success depends not only on positive working relationships with third country authorities but also in ensuring that exporters are fully aware of the sometimes complex requirements and the level of investment needed to meet them.
To this end AHDB’s work on export trade development falls into three key areas:-
Some sectors face particular challenges and this is especially the case for ruminant meet (beef and lamb) where the legacy of BSE continues to hamper progress. Disease outbreaks in general often cause negotiations to be suspended and the clock re-set in many cases. In 2007, following the FMD ‘incident’ it was recognised that the workload in terms of re-establishing trade and in particular completing access procedures was beyond the resources available in DEFRA. To resolve this a partnership was formed specifically for the meat sectors between DEFRA and industry called the UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP).
UKECP is a DEFRA/industry partnership that liaises with the UK livestock and livestock products industries to establish export market priorities. It provides a forum to discuss the use of Defra agents to negotiate export health certificates on behalf of the UK and assists in the drafting of export health certificates which are generally required before exports can take place.
This requires funding and to this end the industry side of the partnership receive contributions from a wide range of organisations across the UK including AHDB, Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC) and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS). The body that coordinates this work is called Export Certification Limited (ECL) to which AHDB is the major contributor, accounting for half of all the funding.
Trade deals vs SPS
It is clear that as part of the Brexit process the UK is keen to develop trade agreements with third countries as rapidly as possible and there is no doubt that this is important. However, it is usually the case that as well as agreeing tariff rate quotas and other key aspects of trade agreements, there needs to be agreement at a technical level in relation to sanitary and phytosanitary rules and this is often overlooked.
In many cases trade is already taking place with non-EU countries outside trade agreements but after very lengthy negotiation on sanitary and health rules in order to meet importuning country requirements. In some cases these can take several years to negotiate because they require not only the exchange of information but numerous inspection visits. When looking at how we accelerate the pace of exports to non-EU markets we need to ensure this work is also properly resourced.
As an example, the initial engagement with the Chinese authorities on pork access started in 2004 but shipments did not commence until 2011 when the deal was finally agreed. There were a number of reasons for this, including the FMD ‘incident’ in 2007 which prompted the Chinese authorities to re-set the clock but even taking this into consideration the negotiations took at least four years to complete. The rewards have been considerable, with pork exports rising to £75million in 2016 from a standing start in 2011 and increasing 76% last year alone.
AHDB objectives and successes to date
We are very keen to develop trade with non-EU markets and AHDB has had a very positive effect in growing these. AHDB activities have proved very effective in increasing exports in key target areas. Key targets over the last three years have been: