TOKYO, Feb. 2 — Japan’s food exports to Europe as well as Japanese food makers who have their European base in the UK should prepare for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, an international lawyer has warned.
Japan’s agriculture ministry organized a seminar on Feb. 1 in Tokyo to discuss what may be the economic impact of Brexit on Japanese food exports and Japanese food companies.
According to the British embassy in Tokyo, there are around 1,000 Japanese companies in the UK.
Many Japanese companies have made the UK as their European base because its EU membership provides tariff-free trade and regulatory aliment with the EU market.
Now, they are concerned about the consequences of Brexit.
“After Brexit, the UK will be no longer a gateway to access to the European single market for Japanese companies,” Ryan Kelly, a lawyer who was invited to the seminar, told the audience.
Kelly stressed that Japanese companies in the food sector should have plans in place from the stage of production, in case of any divergence with the EU which is likely to pose regulatory challenges.
The UK and the EU have agreed to have a transition period after the UK leaves in March 2019 as a way to minimize disruption and allow more time to finalize the terms of the UK’s post-Brexit relations with the EU.
Kelly said that Japanese food companies should keep an eye for future trading arrangement between the UK and the EU, because that could negatively affect their investment in the UK.
At the seminar, Japanese participants asked representatives of the UK government to minimize the negative impact of Brexit and to keep them fully informed about the ongoing negotiations between the UK and the EU.