In the Wallace and Gromit short A Grand Day Out, the duo went to the moon just for a bit of Wensleydale. This year, a slab of the historic British cheese might be even harder to source if you're a Canadian.
Driving the news: Prices for British cheese are set to skyrocket after a temporary trade arrangement that allowed for robust tax-free cheese imports from the U.K. expired.
Catch-up: Since leaving the EU, Britain has tried to strike a free trade deal with Canada, which would include new rules about cheese trade. In the interim, the two sides had agreed to a deal keeping cheese import rules the same, but Canada declined to renew it for 2024.
- To protect domestic dairy producers, Canada sets strict quotas for how much foreign cheese buyers can import tax-free. These quotas have often upset Canada’s trade partners.
Now, the U.K. has to export cheese under a separate quota governing non-EU countries — 95% of which is spoken for, leaving only 5% for the U.K. to access. Any cheese imports that fall outside this meagre allotment will be subject to a whopping 245% tax.
Why it matters: For cheese lovers, this news reeks more than a slice of Stinking Bishop. A 245% tax would add an extra £50 to every kilo of cheese shipped from the U.K. to Canada, making it too expensive for many cheese makers to export the U.K.’s finest cheddars and stiltons.
- This all comes after demand for British cheese increased by 11% last year. While Canadian sellers have stocked up, their supplies are expected to run dry by spring.
Yes, but: British cheese may be left in the cold, but European cheese is more bountiful than ever. Canada has increased its annual quota of tax-free retail cheese imports from the EU to a current maximum of 16 million kilograms. That’s a lot of brie and manchego. —QH