Fresh impetus needed to secure equivalence to allow vital Scottish seed export trade with EU to resume

NFU Scotland has welcomed the decision taken by Defra to end the six-month authorisation that had allowed imports of seed potatoes from Europe to GB at a time when exports from GB to EU were not permitted.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement with Europe, announced at the end of 2020, failed to agree equivalence on seed potatoes, resulting in significant prohibitions on Scottish seed exports to the EU and, by extension, Northern Ireland. The consequence for growers was immediate and grave. As an EU Member State, Britain exported around 30,000 tonnes of seed potatoes, worth £13.5 million, to mainland Europe each year and the majority of these were high-health stocks grown in Scotland.

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