Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Plan A+ and agriculture

No longer responsible for traffic jams, Boris Johnson turns his attention to agriculture.

The Institute of Economic Affairs was founded by one of the first battery farmers and has always take an interest in the way in which agricultural policies perversely disrupt (in its view) the operation of the market mechanism. It is therefore no surprise that its PLan A+ for Brexit, endorsed by leading Brexiteers such as David Davis and Boris Johnson, has a lot to say about agriculture, some of it on very technical matters: Plan A

It is certainly no 'Plan A' from outer space in the sense that it based on a good if particular understanding of how the CAP and international trade rules in agriculture operate.

The report calls for Britain to eliminate tariffs on all agricultural products it does not produce such as avocados, oranges and rice [rice is a significant crop in Italy]. It does allow for the continuation of direct grants to farmers who it admits may face competition from new foreign imports. Tariffs on food should be reduced.

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