Northern Ireland’s dairy industry could face a “doomsday scenario” if a no-deal Brexit takes place, according to Dairy Council Northern Ireland.
With Brexit talks remaining deadlocked this week, the trade body warned tariffs on dairy moving south across the Irish border would cause profitability to plummet, placing the livelihoods of more than 3,000 dairy farming families at risk.
“In a no-deal Brexit, trade tariffs on both raw milk and finished products moved from Northern Ireland to the EU would total £320m, before you calculate the cost of the administrative burden customs will place on dairy processors,” said DCNI CEO Mike Johnston.
“This tariff represents 25% of the value of our entire industry. In a sector where the margin is, at best, 3%-4%, tariffs of that magnitude would wipe out the industry.”
Johnston also warned DCNI members would struggle to process all of their milk as 35% of Northern Ireland’s milk is processed in the Republic of Ireland. “There is a processing shortfall of some 600 million litres that will not have a viable home if politicians cannot find a solution to the current Brexit impasse.”
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