Shropshire MP's call for support for cheese exporters
Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has called for additional measures to support the British cheese industry.
Her call came after a meeting in her constituency at Belton Farm near Whitchurch.
Cheese producers have been having a difficult time adapting to new payment schemes and dealing with the impacts of new trade deals.
In particular, this impacts the Canadian market, where the UK exported £18.7 million of cheese last year and which Belton Farm exports more than £1 million to.
Changes to dairy quotas mean that British goods will have to compete globally for a much smaller section of the market, which could see the industry hit hard overnight with the vast majority of British exports unable to access the Canadian market from 2024.
The North Shropshire MP has written to officers from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dairy to seek cross-party support for measures to back the industry.
She said: “The Government have a duty to look after our agricultural industry and promote British interests abroad, yet it seems our cheese exporters are being set up to fail.
“Current trading arrangements end in January. This would mean that an enormous agricultural export market is lost almost entirely overnight – we cannot let this happen.
“Belton Farm near Whitchurch export over £1 million worth of cheese to Canada. It was really interesting to visit and hear their experiences as a large local agricultural business, and to see a case study of a farm who would face real problems if the Government don’t listen to the industry and negotiate a fairer deal.”
