
NFU President Minette Batters met with the Minister for exports, Mike Freer MP recently to discuss the Dairy Export Strategy designed to help unlock new opportunities within international markets.
The Government’s Dairy Export Strategy will invest in partnership with the industry to drive dairy exports through trade deals, agriculture counsellors, and market development.
The meeting took place at specialist Stilton makers, Long Clawson Dairy, Leicestershire, which Ms Batters described as “a prime example of how the British dairy industry is ambitious, innovative and forward-thinking.”
The industry currently exports over £1.6 billion worth of dairy products to more than 135 countries, but the NFU says it would like to see that value double within the next decade.
Among other aims from the industry’s collaboration with the Government, there is hope that diary exports will be achieved through activities such as beneficial trade deals, agriculture counsellors and market development work.
In addition, the NFU is keen to ensure that future trade deals by the Government will not undermine the UK’s domestic production standards.
The body also wants to develop an increased focus and build on existing work by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) & Red Tractor on dairy exports & market development.
Dairy exports currently support over six million jobs across the UK. The Government has pledged that its newly created Export Strategy and Export Support Service will “help businesses to expand their exporting ambitions at a time when global interest in British produce is increasing.”
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