NEW data from the Office for National Statistics reveals the true extent of Brexit’s devastating impact on the Scottish food and drink sector.
EU-bound consignments for January 2021 were down 63% on the previous year, while Scotland’s largest food export category, fish and shellfish, was down a crippling 83%.
Meat and dairy also suffered with exports plunging 59% and 50% respectively, the ONS found.
James Withers (below), the chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, said the “grim” figures could not be sugar coated – and rejected claims that the fall in exports was a result of Covid-19.
“We know Covid has reduced demand and there was stockpiling of products before the end of the year, however, right at the heart of this trade collapse is Brexit and the creation of huge, new, non-tariff trade barriers with our biggest export market,” he said.
“This simply can’t be talked away as a Covid issue. The crash in UK trade has not been seen in sales to non-EU markets, despite it being a global pandemic. Also, we did not see a fall like this at any point during the first lockdown.”
He went on: “The financial damage to our seafood industry is particularly stark. A fall of over 80% in what is the UK’s biggest food export has brought a crisis to a sector reeling from the worst trading year in memory. You can’t stockpile fresh fish and shellfish, so that has not been a factor at all in these figures.”
The chief executive expects to see an uplift in exports in the most recent figures covering February and March, however he stressed post-Brexit trade barriers now in place are “real and costly”.
READ MORE: Exports to EU plunged 41 per cent in January as Brexit transition period ended
“The so-called teething problems still with us and have cost the industry tens of millions so far,” he explained. “This has to act as a catalyst to open negotiations with the EU to recognise aligned food standards and reduce the red tape burden. Without that, these trade figures will never recover to anything like the levels before.”
However, negotiations with the EU “may be much more difficult” due to their lack of perceived border friction, Withers added.
“They will enjoy a grace period on border checks so wrongly denied to UK exporters. The Brexit dividend thus far has turned out to be a huge competitive disadvantage for Scottish food exporters.”
The latest ONS figures revealed exports of UK goods to the EU plunged by two-fifths in January.
The British Chambers of Commerce head of economics, Suren Thiru, said the practical issues go further than “teething problems” and are likely to drag down UK economic growth in this quarter.
Drew Hendry, the SNP's shadow international trade secretary, commented: “These are devastating figures which fully vindicate the years of warnings that Brexit would do enormous damage to jobs and the economy – warnings that Boris Johnson and the Tories arrogantly ignored.
"Firms are already struggling to stay afloat due to the pandemic - imposing an extreme Tory Brexit on top of that shows astonishing belligerence.
“The Prime Minister - who once stood beside a bus promising people £350m a week for the NHS after Brexit - now must answer for this act of reckless economic vandalism."
The MP said the Tories had been repeatedly warned about the consequences of imposing Brexit on the UK in the middle of a pandemic.
"Instead of heeding calls to extend the transition period and supporting businesses, the Tories ploughed on regardless – and imposed this mess on Scotland against our will," he added.
"It's clear beyond any doubt that the only way to properly protect Scotland's interests and place in Europe is to become an independent country."
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