Environment secretary Liz Truss kicked up a stink about the potential damage leaving Europe would do to Britain’s food exporters, whilst visiting cheese producers in Somerset on Thursday.

The Defra secretary is backing her Party leadership in campaigning for Britain to remain part of the EU ahead of the June Referendum, though farming minister and former UKIP man George Eustice is supporting the ‘leave’ campaign.   

Visiting Wyke Farm in Somerset on Thursday, the environment secretary said the EU is the destination for three quarters of British cheese exports; Britain exports £330 million worth of cheese to EU countries each year, and Truss said exports have increased by 8% since 2010.

The environment secretary said that, outside the EU, cheese producers like Wyke Farms could face crippling tariffs of up to 30 per cent to sell their produce to Europe, costing an additional £169 million per year. She also said standardised labelling across the EU benefits producers, who could face costs for re-labelling outside the union (of up to £3,000 for each product line they export, according to Truss) and highlighted the benefit of protected food name status which the EU confers on certain regional products.

The Defra secretary said, “With a huge £330 million of cheese exports going to Europe it’s clear Somerset dairy farmers and producers are stronger, safer and better off as part of a reformed EU.

“Wyke Farms is a prime example of a farm business taking advantage of our tariff-free access to the world’s largest single market of 500 million customers to export their high-quality produce.”

Richard Clothier, MD of Wyke Farms, commented, “My family have been farming here in Somerset for over 150 years and I’m immensely proud of how we have thrived in recent years as we’ve been able to sell Somerset produce all over the continent. We’ve worked hard to build our European export business and now have relationships with many European businesses such as Carrefour.

“Leaving the EU puts our free market trade at risk; the current arrangement gives us access to a market more than twice the size of the US and the ability to trade within it under just one set of regulations. Changing this would be disabling for business, not empowering. We have an ambitious five-year growth plan for our business and leaving Europe in the coming years will jeopardise that.”

Although both side of the debate have made wild claims about cost, from the exit campaign pointing out that Britain is a net financial contributor to the EU and promising cost savings from a regularly bonfire upon exit (unlikely if Britain is to keep trading with the EU), and the ‘remain’ campaign warning of massive costs and job-losses resulting from ‘leap into the dark’, experts think an exit from the EU would be more managed than either party suggests.

Many leave campaigners envisage an independent Britain striking trade deals with emerging economies like Brazil and India, as well as increasing trade with the United States, but free-market think tank the Institute for Economic Affairs has said there is no evidence that trade with Europe would be reduced in the event of a Brexit vote. What this would mean is that the UK would be forced to renegotiate deals with trade deals with Europe, and probably other trading partners who have agreements with the EU, but not the UK in isolation. From an agricultural standpoint, calls for trade agreements with countries Brazil, New Zealand and the US could mean much cheaper agricultural imports entering the UK market, affecting farmers who are already feeling the effects of low prices.