Portugal’s Confederation of Farmers (CAP) on Friday said it was concerned about Brexit, adding that the UK is one of Portugal’s main markets for farm products.
“We are concerned because we don’t want a hard Brexit. Farming is important nowadays and the UK is one of the main markets we export to,” the confederation’s head, Eduardo Oliveira e Sousa said.
Sousa, who spoke to journalists in Castelo Branco, where he was meeting with farmers and associations of the sector, explained that there were products that may not have such a big impact with a no-deal Brexit, such as wine.
“But for fresh products […] if the UK turns into a third country, where we have to stop at the border, undergo sanitary inspections, wait for the vets, nothing is be impossible and that is a huge problem,” he said.
Sousa said that both the European Union and the UK are aware of this problem, but what nobody knows what might happen.
The UK plans to withdraw from the EU on 29 March, although it is still unclear on what terms, after the British parliament rejected the agreement negotiated between the government of Theresa May and the European bloc.
