British food and farming businesses are set to benefit from £80 million in new export opportunities this year, with global agri-food trade barriers into the US and China now unlocked.

The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced today (Friday, June 26) that its network of attachés have resolved 20 barriers to international trade this year so far.

Defra outlined that the attachés have delivered new market access in the following countries:

China - Market opportunities for British farmed trout worth £11 million and live spiny lobster worth £2 million, alongside a new streamlined Chinese export registration process that will reportedly save businesses £50 million annually;
Indonesia - New exports of processed animal protein from the UK into Indonesia is expected to return £10 million annually;
United Arab Emirates - British poultry and eggs are expected to enter the UAE market, which is predicted to be worth £4.9 million;
US - The clarification of rules regarding sheep semen and embryos between UK and US is predicted to increase the export value of said goods by £500,000 over the next 18 months;
Kuwait - The UK was able to secure export opportunites for British salmon into Kuwait, worth a reported £250k.

The department's new farming minister, Stephen Morgan welcomed the agri-food attachés back for "a week of intensive engagement".

Defra noted that its staff met with producers, farmers and small businesses to discuss how the government can help them capitalise on the UK's new trade deals and the forthcoming EU-UK sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.

During their week back, the attachés reportedly engaged with roughly 100 food and drink businesses, including Wilkin & Sons jam factory and fruit farm in Tiptree, Essex.

The director of sustainability and growth at the Food and Drink Federation, Balwinder Dhoot commented on these new export opportunties.

He said: "The agri-food attaché network provides valuable in-market support to businesses and is a key part of our goal to reach £35bn in UK food and drink exports by 2035.

"We are looking forward to working more closely with the attaches going forward to deliver strong benefits for the UK's 12,000 food and drink manufacturers."

2025

Last year, Defra stated that its network of attachés resolved 55 export barriers estimated to be worth £127 million annually, from securing pork access to Mexico to removing "costly obstacles" for dairy exports to Egypt. 

2025 also saw two UK dairy establishments being approved to export to Brazil, according to the department.

It described the newfound market access in Brazil as "an important step in boosting exports to this growing market and seeing more British dairy on Brazilian shelves."