This week we’ve heard a lot of encouraging noises from the Government on thier determination to negotiate a more trade-friendly deal with the EU.

On Wednesday Rachel Reeves advocated for geographically important trade ties with large trading partners saying that: “We will always seek every opportunity to grow our economy and these trading relationships, but ultimately only one of these is on our doorstep, and so the biggest prize is closer integration with Europe.”

A day after, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds addressed a gathering in Paris to underscore the UK’s committment to food security, resilience and standards through a new SPS agreement saying “All these challenges demand greater cooperation, not isolation.” She said that “Exports of British farm products to the EU have dropped by a fifth in the five years since Brexit” but that “This agreement will change that. It will make trade faster, easier, and cheaper.”

This is all very heartening to our industry which has been particularly disadvantaged over the last five years. But it’s also important to keep our eyes firmly on that “biggest prize” and support the Government in thier negotiations by not throwing too many spanners into the works in the form of carve-out demands that will distract and delay.

We should be cognizant of the fact that the UK is not the only country currently negotiating agrifood access to the huge EU market. Last week, we saw an article describing Australia’s push for much larger quotas for beef, sheepmeat and goatmeat under a free trade agreement. Andrew McDonald, Chair of the Australia–EU Red Meat Market Access Taskforce, said Australia cannot afford to fall further behind other global suppliers. He commented: “Our competitors have significantly strengthened their position in the EU through bilateral negotiations. With strong support from the Australian Government, we aim to achieve the same.”