GET back round the table with the EU over food, drink and farming, Mairi Gougeon will today tell the UK Government.

Gougeon, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Secretary, will make the call at today’s meeting of an Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The group last met in December, with representatives of the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments and the Northern Ireland Executive all on the video call.

Now, two years on from Brexit, Gougeon says the labour and skills shortages that have followed and the new red tape burden have helped drive Scottish food and drink exports to the EU.

Exports to the bloc were worth £2.6 billion to the economy in 2019 – 40% of all our food and drink exports.

READ MORE: Scottish Government lists 'myriad harms' Brexit has caused Scotland

But in the first nine months of 2021, trade to the bloc was down by more than 12% year-on-year.

Gougeon, who took up the ministerial post last year, says it’s time for the UK Government to “re-engage” with the European Union.

Her administration wants its London counterpart to bring in a 24-month temporary work visa to bring in the labour Scottish firms lack.

And it says the 30,000 limit on the UK’s Seasonal Workers Scheme falls “far short” of the 55,700 that the farmers unions of Scotland, England and Wales argue is really needed.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Gougeon, who is also the MSP for the Angus North and Mearns constituency, said: “Two years on, Brexit has failed to deliver a single benefit for Scotland’s rural communities, or the countless food and drink businesses that support them.

“Fragile rural and island communities are bearing the brunt of a hard Brexit, recklessly pursued while a global pandemic has ravaged our society and our economy.”

The food and drink sector accounts for as many as 122,000 Scottish jobs across around 17,500 businesses.

Together, they turnover around £15bn for the economy every year.

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According to data from HMRC, UK food and drink exports to the EU dropped by more than a third in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020 – making for a £1bn fall in trade.

Imports of EU edibles also saw a 14% reduction.

While there were signs of recovery in the period to September, the value of trade with the EU remains weaker than during the equivalent periods from 2018-20.

The market remains an important one for Scottish firms. As much as one third of all Scotch whisky exports are shipped there.

So do almost 90% of exported sheep meat products, nearly 80% of seafood and around 75% of pig meat.

Gougeon said: “Scotland’s food and drink sector has been a global success story, providing highly paid, highly skilled jobs, and businesses, often in remote rural and island communities. But Brexit has caused labour and skills shortages and created barriers to trade that have harmed many businesses and communities in the short term, with research suggesting a significant risk to their success in the longer term too.

“Scottish exporters are also being forced to cope with a mountain of complex, time consuming and costly customs and borders arrangements. Businesses put in huge amounts of preparation for the new Export Health Certificates introduced this year, but they still face uncertainty around the level of certification needed to ensure valuable seafood exports enter the EU without delay.

“The UK Government must listen to the needs of Scottish businesses and re-engage in good faith with the EU to find pragmatic solutions to the problems still facing businesses, before they – and the communities they support – endure further unnecessary pain.”

Gougeon took over the Rural Affairs portfolio in the re-shuffle last May, succeeding Fergus Ewing. He had held the responsibility for five years prior to the change, which saw Gougeon shift from Public Health and Sport.