Fuw dismay as trade figures confirm surge in lamb imports - farmers weekly

feature-image

Play all audios:

© Mehmet/Adobe Stock The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has cautioned that a surge in imports of lamb towards the end of last year should serve as a stark warning to government about the


threat posed by imbalanced free-trade deals. During 2022, HMRC figures show the UK imported 63,800t of sheepmeat, a rise of 20% (10,800t) on the previous year. The percentage of frozen


imports has also been rising in recent years, with frozen sheepmeat accounting for about 75% of total imports in 2022, compared with about 55% in 2019. See also: Aldi drops UK lamb pledge


amid mixed support from retailers At the same time, UK producers have been facing lower farmgate prices and significant increases in input costs. For the week ending 18 February, GB


deadweight lamb prices were down by 13% on the same week last year, to average 511.3p/kg, equivalent to a 75p/kg drop on the year. FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “We are now locked into


trade deals with New Zealand and Australia that will phase out import limits for key Welsh products altogether, with few safeguards for our own producers.” He added: “The government’s own


impact analyses make it clear that these deals will see production and prices undermined, with losses of hundreds of millions of pounds for the food and farming sector under certain


scenarios.”