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 products which, while the UK remains in the EU, have had the privilege of   


Table 1 PRODUCT TYPE


DAIRY PRODUCTS CEREALS FISH


 COFFEE, TEA


OILSEEDS, FATS AND OIL MINERALS AND METALS


AVERAGE EU TARIFF       


 Source: UK government website


 EU/UK border and, under WTO rules would necessitate a hard border  able to facilitate these checks and controls that would need to take place, you require physical infrastructure to operate a customs border. There are worries that the UK has the practical problem of a lack of  also this particular hard border problem which has made Ireland a key element in the Brexit debate. Currently there is a frictionless border as both Ireland and Northern Ireland are within the EU, however with the UK leaving the customs union there could potentially be two product standards and regulations, and trade across the border would need to prove they are being adhered to. Given the nature of Ireland’s economy  three-quarters of the businesses in Northern Ireland trading across the border are small or micro businesses who lack the resources to manage such a fundamental change. Encompassed in this is the fragility of the  which could be harmed by again imposing a hard border. It is thus very understandable why Ireland features so heavily on the agenda.


To answer this problem the UK could take the stance that is will forego  products from the EU without checks. The UK and EU are currently aligned on product standards and regulations, and this certainly will not change overnight. Under WTO rules, the UK is allowed to make this decision. However also according to WTO rules, the UK would need to extend this to products from all other WTO members as all members have to be treated equally. This would then would be an open trade border with 164 nations the same as Hong Kong and Singapore. Unlike the UK, both Hong Kong and Singapore are cities and almost entirely rely on food imports. Such an open border would be detrimental to local agriculture and the preservation of rural communities, as well as no longer having control over product standards within the UK.


THE UK’S COMMITMENTS ARE CURRENTLY BUNDLED UP WITH THE EU AS A WHOLE.


Some of our standards and exceptions we have in the UK are already not according to WTO rules. For example there is no science based evidence to state chlorine-washed chicken is bad for human health, and therefore according to the WTO it should be allowed to be sold within the UK, yet it is not. Examples like this illustrate the grey area surrounding the supremacy of the WTO over national and sub-national rules or regulations. By the same logic we could ignore open borders to all other nations, or the EU could ignore WTO ruling and block UK products it doesn’t like from the future EU single   a very lengthy process. It takes on average two years to settle a dispute. These lengthy dispute settlement procedures can also only be accessed by citizens and companies through their respective governments. Therefore companies must persuade their local government to bring a claim on their behalf. Given how expensive and complex WTO litigation is, local  number of complaints are ever brought before WTO panels.


So in answer to what does the WTO mean for us it was answered rather well by the WTO’s director general Roberto Azevedo when interviewed by the BBC: “Clearly this is not going to be a situation where all trade stops and there is a collapse in terms of the economy as a whole, but it’s not going to be a walk in the park. It’s not like nothing will happen. There will be an impact. The tendency is that prices will go up of course, [because] you have to absorb the cost of that disruption.”


Lauren Judd E: lauren.judd@adm.com T: +44 1322 444 820


13 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | January/February 2019


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