Chipping Norton flour miller raises concerns over possible tariff cuts
Matthews Cotswold Flour says cheaper imports could impact farmers and bakers
A flour miller in Chipping Norton has raised concerns about the impact of possible changes to tariffs on imported Turkish flour as part of ongoing UK-Turkey trade negotiations.
Matthews Cotswold Flour says the issue has been discussed within the flour milling industry following conversations led by industry body UK Flour Millers.
Managing director Bertie Matthews said: “The concern is that if this tariff is removed, we’re going to be getting cheap Turkish flour coming into the country.
“76% of it is milled from Russian wheat and I just don’t think consumers are aware of what’s really going on.”
Mr Matthews believes buyers increasingly care about the traceability of their food.
He also said the UK is largely self-sufficient, producing four million tonnes of flour every year, and does not necessarily rely on imports.
“We’ve got fantastic British farms growing really high-quality grain. We’ve got plenty of capacity in the milling industry, including us at Matthews, so there isn’t necessarily a need to do this,” he said.
Mr Matthews explained that lower-priced imports could place additional pressure on farmers and businesses across the wider food industry.
“It is incredibly difficult for farmers at the moment,” he said. “If we’ve got imported flour coming in very cheaply into the market, the flour price goes down and the wheat price goes down because the demand is lower, that's going to cause them further strain.”
He added: “There’s implications for bakers across the UK about where their flour is coming from, what wheat they’re using, where that’s coming from and how that affects their businesses.”
A Government spokesperson said: “No decisions have been made on tariffs as part of a trade deal with Turkey.
“Negotiations continue on agreeing a deal to build on our £28bn trading relationship, and we will ensure it protects the long-term interests of key domestic industries, including farming and food manufacturing in Oxfordshire.”