Berry sector ready for new commercial era after Brexit

Without an agreement with the European Union, the United Kingdom from January 1, 2021 will trade with other EU countries according to the regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

 

 

Freshuelva believes that the berry sector is ready to face the new commercial relationship with this market which is the 3rd in Europe, in terms of total consumption of berries from Huelva, after Germany and France.

 

 

Rafael Domínguez, the director of Freshuelva, is sure that all Huelva berry producers linked to the UK market have completed all the administrative procedures that will ensure the export of red fruits and facilitate the passage of goods at the border without delays or setbacks.

 

 

Regarding customs taxes, which will be applied to the total price of the exported production in each shipment, insurance and transport costs, the UK is expected to impose rates on Spanish berries of 11.20% for strawberries, 8.80% for raspberries and 9.6% for blackberries and blueberries.

 

 

For Rafael Domínguez, Brexit will clearly harm the berry sector in Huelva and benefit other countries, such as Egypt and Morocco, because their products are not subject to an additional customs duty or administrative burden.

 

 

While the pandemic is causing uncertainty among berry growers by not being able to secure the labor force needed to harvest the fruits in advance during the peak campaign season, Brexit adds further uncertainty as this it is not yet possible to assess its impact on the marketing of berries.

 

 

In this sense, it should be remembered that 66% of the companies associated with Freshuelva export strawberries to the United Kingdom during the campaign; that 90% of the industry markets raspberries and blueberries in the UK market and 50% is directly linked to UK consumers through blackberries.

 

 

The volume of strawberries shipped from Huelva to the UK market in the last season 2019/2020 exceeded 37,000 tonnes (13.50% of the total exported in this season). So far about 11,707 tons (30%) of raspberries are counted, as this berry is still being harvested; that for blueberries 12,480 tonnes were reached, which represents 20% of the production of Huelva, and that for blackberries 470 tonnes were shipped, or 20%.

 

 

source : agrodiariohuelva