Brexit
Samuel Pepys on plague
There is a joke Samuel Pepys diary entry going around the internet, where he talks about how 1665 was a horrible year with the plague, but he’s really looking forward to trying out the new bakery on Pudding Lane in 1666. London’s Great Fire started there, and he had to resort to burying his Parmigiano Reggiano wheel in the garden before fleeing London. Protection of the cheese is still important, I think.
The impending arrival of Brexit
I have been trying to not write about the endless negotiations going on in Brussels about Britain’s trade deal with the European Union. I have interviewed many people about it and there is almost a universal cry of, please, just give us some solid answers to base our plans on.
PML announces solution to border control delays
PML and FreshLinc’s Border Control Post and warehouse facility will enable quicker movement of product and extend shelf life by up to 48 hours.
Ireland on the up
I thought the Bord Bia Virtual GB Trade Reception of particular interest in my flurry of webinars last week, seeing as how the UK is heading towards Brexit at high speed now, and taking Ireland, its largest trading partner, along with it.
MIV reports on German dairy and Brexit
The annual conference of the German Milk Industry Association (MIV) took a look at the milk market and various important agricultural policy events for the year so far.
Unions urge free trade agreement between EU and UK
If the UK moves to trading on World Trade Organisation terms after 2020, agro-food goods would attract the highest level of tariffs with inevitable consequences on trade levels and jobs, according to several unions in the UK, Ireland & EU.
Remember Brexit?
Brexit is still happening, among everything else in this very busy year. The news coming that the French are threatening to block a deal with the UK over fishing rights has a feeling of déjà vu about it all.
Dairy UK responds to regulation of contracts consultation launch
Following the publication of the consultation on the regulation of raw milk contracts, Dairy UK says it has welcomed the opportunity to provide evidence as part of the consultation process.
Cap funding and UK-EU link key for German EU presidency
Germany will take over the rotating EU Council Presidency in July 2020 and it has a lot on its plate, with the Covid-19 induced crisis, climate change, and a troubled global trade environment.
The bureaucracy files
Over the weekend, Jeremy Clarkson was in the Sunday Times, noting that while the rest of us were in the garden, enjoying the sunshine, he was in his office filling out government forms for his farming activities. I am sure some of our readers were with him, filling out those same forms. He also rightly pointed out that few farms could manage without the government help the forms provide, but now that Brexit is occurring, the subsidy will eventually stop.
New president of the European Committee of the Regions
Greece’s Apostolos Tzitzikostas (EPP) has been elected president of the European Committee of the Regions.
Brexit and next steps
The big news last week was the advent of Brexit here in the UK. This week, we start figuring out what this actually means, and what the EU and UK will wind up with as a partnership.
Dairy demands outlined in framework
Across the European Union (EU28), there are 700,000 dairy farms, 12,000 milk processing sites and more than 300,000 people working in the sector. The dairy sector is the industrial and societal backbone of rural Europe in the EU27 as much as in the UK, the European Dairy Association reminds everyone in its dairy framework document, released on 31 January.
Dairy industry ‘dismayed’ at updated temporary tariff regime
UK dairy processors have ‘hit out’ in response to changes to the no deal tariff regime announced by the UK government, which could cost the industry £1.3bn (€1.48bn) in lost export potential.