According to Bord Bia chief executive Tara McCarthy, Irish farmers have to look on Brexit as an opportunity to excel and innovate. Looking at the mushroom industry she is not too fazed by the potential no deal scenario if WTO rules come into play.
The mushroom industry in Ireland has struggled since the Brexit vote of June 2016 - with a fall in the value of sterling eating into companies' already low margins. The industry is also exposed to potential customs delays because of the short shelf life of mushrooms.
Ms McCarthy said however that mushrooms tend to be low tariff products under World Trade Organization rules, which will prove something of a silver lining if WTO rules are implemented on foot of a hard Brexit.
It could be a case of looking on the bright side and ignoring all the downsides. Anyway, here’s hoping it all turns out alright on the night, so to speak.
Already the waters have been muddied in the sphere of WTO negotiations. Russia has objected to the UK’s proposal for splitting its import quotas from the EU.
This will prevent the WTO’s director general giving the UK’s plan a stamp of approval. Although this may not be an immediate complication or problem it could become so.
The whole interconnectedness of trade and global politics comes into play when the landscape changes, as it did with the Brexit vote. No doubt there will be more on this as things move on.
