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UK farmers have little to fear and much to gain from a new enlarged European Union of 25 countries, the country's National Farmers' Union (NFU) said in a report on Tuesday.
Britain was unlikely to be hit by a flood of cheap imports and UK farmers had time to establish themselves in the new markets after the 10 mainly east European countries joined the bloc on May 1, according to the NFU.
"Enlargement will bring further export opportunities, with high economic growth rates a trait of new entrants over the next decade. Over time, an increasing number of people in the new member states will benefit from rising incomes," NFU president Tim Bennett said.
"When this happens, they will look to buy more value-added and premium products such as luxury dairy products, cheese and poultry, thus offering British farmers a lucrative opportunity but they will need to take on the challenge of other competitors to win these markets," Bennett added.
The union said UK farmers would face immediate competition in areas such as oilseeds, fruit, vegetables and poultry, but growers in the new member countries would have to comply with European health and safety regulations, which were often costly to implement.
"It is a fallacy that the UK will be a victim of a flood of cheap imports agricultural trade with many of these countries has already been liberalised to a large extent, therefore competitive pressures are forecast to increase only gradually," said NFU economist Simon Michel-Berger.
The 10 new countries joining the EU on May 1 are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta.

Copyright Reuters, 2004

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