On 22 October, Europatat participated at the AHDB’s annual export conference, Global Britain, in London. Throughout the day, a line-up of experts discussed some of the most important and timely topics facing industry today, including UK trade discussions, new market access and the short- and long-term impacts of Brexit.
AHDB international market development director Dr Phil Hadley kicked off the conference by giving an overview of the current situation for UK exports – highlighting some of the recent market access wins including China, Japan and Taiwan. Doug Forsyth, the director general for trade policy at the Department of Global Affairs for Canada talked about the Canada-UK post Brexit trade discussions. Joe Healy, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association and a dairy farmer, also explored the future of UK trade post Brexit. Viewers then saw a video of Graham Stuart, Minister for Investment at the Department for International Trade, who talked about the value of exports and the recent market access wins for industry. A panel session was held on the short-term impacts and long-term solutions of Brexit.
In the session dedicated to crops, Triona Davey from SASA, The Scottish Government, gave a talk on Brexit, and the possible implications for the seed potato trade, where Europatat had the opportunity to share with participants its activities at EU level to defend a frictionless trade for the potato sector.
