Potato industry leaders reunited a few days ago at the opening of Solana Seeds’ new Scottish base Wester Meathie, near Forfar, said that they will push to reinstate the country’s valuable seed potato trade with Europe.

Invited to address a few words at the beginning of the event, NFU Scotland vice president, Andrew Connon, branded the trade barriers as “purely political and totally unacceptable”, according to Agriland.

“The biggest issue we face is the lack of a current export market to Europe. With more than 75% of GB’s seed potato exports coming from Scotland, this situation has caused chaos for many growers,” said the expert.

Connon added that the European growers want Scottish seed potatoes whilst some UK growers have a need for imports from Europe.

According to the NFU’s expert, seed potato trade with the EU and GB must be reciprocal.

“This is an established principle that must remain in place for our members’ interests. Any one-way trade deals with individual members states would undermine this principle and will be extremely unwelcome,” mentioned the NFU Scotland vice president.