Research released today by the Food and Drink Federation shows that UK exports of food and drink to the EU are down by almost a third compared to 2019.
The 'trade snapshot', available here, shows UK exports are down 31% on pre-Brexit levels.
It says the huge drop in EU business is due to the complexities of trading with the EU, and calls on the government to help promote British products abroad and prioritise preparing businesses for the SPS Agreement, a deal which would help cut red tape involved in exporting UK products to the EU.
Sir Nick Harvey, CEO of European Movement UK, said:
"We cannot ignore this figure. A 31% loss in our food and drink exports is hammering our growers and producers, many to the point of simply giving up. The damage done by leaving the single market is egregious.
"Anyone claiming that this is a Brexit betrayal simply doesn't understand the dire situation our food industry has faced since the UK left the EU, when it mangled its trading relationship with its best customer.
"Farmers, growers, fisheries - they've all been hammered by extra red tape, which made them so uncompetitive in terms of exports that many of them simply gave up exporting to the EU, or went out of business altogether. The announcement of this deal will help not just them, but all of us in terms of food prices, at a time when the cost-of-living looks again set to increase for all of us on our food costs and energy bills."
David Catt, a fruit and vegetable farmer based in Kent and European Movement member, said:
"This reflects what all farmers already know - that trading with the EU has become much harder in the last five years. You've got dairy farmers going out of business on a weekly basis because they can't export because of the red tape. Producers are in a domestic market which simply doesn't buy enough, so they're stuck with produce they can't sell and can't export.
"Potatoes are down, milk is down, fruit is down - we need to get rid of the extra red tape as soon as possible, and the government making a deal with the EU is the only way to breathe life back into the UK farming, growing and fishing industries. It cannot come soon enough."