BEIC welcomes trade deal

The British Egg Industry Council has welcomed the deal agreed between the UK and the EU. Since the EU referendum in June 2016, the BEIC has continuously engaged with the UK Government over a range of issues that would impact our producers and consumers as a result of leaving the EU. 

Even though the draft agreement between the UK and EU is all but certain to be formally agreed and adopted by the EU, the BEIC will respond fully once we have had an opportunity to scrutinise the detail of the deal. What is clear already however, is the deal is far from perfect and the reality is that it will result in extra costs for our industry. Despite having secured tariff and quota free access to the world’s largest single market, there will be an economic cost in terms of bureaucracy, that didn’t previously exist while the UK was a member of the EU. 

For Northern Ireland, with the UK-EU border now down the Irish Sea, this has thrust NI into a unique and unprecedented legal and constitutional relationship with mainland Great Britain, as well as the Republic of Ireland, which is now the EU’s new land border. This is already manifesting itself in new requirements for the supply of day-old chick to the island of Ireland, where, rather than using returnable boxes, each box has to be disposable, which is hardly environmentally friendly and certainly more costly.

We urge the government to continue to work with our EU trading partner to devise and implement ways to reduce red tape wherever possible, thereby reducing the need for cost increases to consumers. 

BEIC Chief Executive, Mark Williams said: “I always thought that an agreement would be reached, as the consequences of a no deal would have been serious. We had warned government how damaging this would have been for our producers and consumers.” 

BEIC Chairman, Andrew Joret said: “We always hoped for the best, but prepared for the worst, but in the end it is reassuring to know that cooler and calmer heads prevailed, and that there is stability going forward for the British egg industry.”