The European Parliament’s COMAGRI (Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development) held an “Exchange of views on the disruption in the EU-GB trade in seed potatoes” to which Europatat was invited to speak.

The European Potato Trade Association (Europatat) used this opportunity to highlight the impact of there being no agreement on the European potato supply chain.

Europatat called on COMAGRI MEPs to break the deadlock and to reach an agreement on both a transitional arrangement and a long-term solution to resume the bilateral EU-UK trade in seed potatoes. This must be done soon to avoid the possibility of regulatory divergence emerging between the EU and UK markets, further hindering the opportunities for mutually beneficial bilateral trade.

“Since 1 January 2021, the European Union no longer allows the import of seed potatoes from Great Britain due to existing EU Plant Health Regulations and the lack of an agreement on equivalence requirements. The UK Government has restricted the marketing of EU seed potatoes within GB. This impasse severely affects the European potato supply chain. The non-agreement denies EU’s sector access to certain varieties which are only available in GB and limits the EU’s export opportunities to GB. Many businesses across the EU including breeders, seed traders, seed growers, and consumption potato growers are affected. This will hit the Irish industry especially hard as they rely heavily on the import of Scottish seed potatoes of certain varieties which cannot be sourced from anywhere else. These varieties make an important contribution towards EU biodiversity and food security, which is particularly crucial these days,” Romans Vorss, Europatat Technical Director stated in his introductory speech, according to a Europatat press release.

According to Tigran Richter, Europatat’s Seed Commission Chairman, the non-agreement affects many EU countries including Spain, France, Denmark, Poland, Finland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.

“It is a European issue and we need an agreement between the EU and the UK. The lack of agreement could lead to bilateral negotiations between the UK and EU Member States regarding the export to GB. This may lead to misalignment and potentially unfair practices and issues of competition between countries from the bloc. We got the feeling that during the exchange of views many of MEPs supported our Europatat’s position. The question of food security, biodiversity, and climate change raised by several members of the discussion makes us believe that it is time to build a new type of relationship to maintain the good businesses relationship of the potato sector that we had in the past for common efforts to meet those challenges,” Richter concluded.

The Other Side of The Coin

The spud farmers who plant illegal potato seed supplied to farms in eastern England face prosecution for breaching biosecurity rules designed to keep pests and diseases out of the country.

“Up to 1,000t of small ware Agria potatoes have been imported into the UK – and supplied as uncertified seed for spring planting in west Norfolk, south Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire”, Farmers Weekly has been told.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) said it was aware of at least one operator attempting to circumvent plant health and marketing rules. Farmers and suppliers suspected of breaking the law face prosecution, it warned.

“Apha will be pursuing robust action against any infringements and will be carrying out both general and targeted surveillance to ensure compliance – with enforcement action taken where offenses are identified,” the above-mentioned source mentioned.

Farmers should ensure any seed stocks are properly certified and from a reputable source. Seed potatoes from the EU can no longer be marketed in Great Britain after permission to do so expired following Brexit.

Offenders are liable on summary conviction to a fine. This includes the planting of ware potatoes or any other potatoes not obtained under an officially approved program for the certification of potatoes.