i) Ireland agrees new trade deal with China
The Republic of Ireland has agreed a new trade deal with China which will allow for the export of sheepmeat and breeding pigs.
China accounts for 38 percent of global sheepmeat imports (365,000 tonnes), although a large amount of this will be from countries which are net exporters of red meat such as New Zealand and Australia.
ii) Carbon neutral potatoes from Wales to be sold in Co-Op
The UK’s first carbon neutral potatoes grown by Puffin Produce in Pembrokeshire will be sold across 200 Co-Op stores.
What are known as Root Zero potatoes are sourced from local farmers and are carbon neutral and grown sustainability. The carbon footprint calculations also include the footprint from the entire supply chain.
Puffin Produce has set a target to reduce the carbon intensity of Root Zero potatoes by 51% by 2030 and its operational emissions by 46% by 2030.
iii) German Agriculture Minister calls for more consistent standards in future trade deals
German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner has urged the European Commission that calling for a Green Deal for EU agriculture while not maintaining the same ambition in free trade agreements with third countries will place domestic farmers at a competitive disadvantage.
This is one of the many concerns the FUW and others have raised in regards to the free trade agreements between the UK and Australia and New Zealand.