Opportunities arise for UK food exports from UK-GCC trade deal

The GCC is a trade bloc comprising UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. AHDB’s analysis of Prospects for UK-agrifood exports has shown that the GCC is one of the most promising destinations for UK exports, aligning with the regional focus in AHDB’s Market access prioritisation report 2025, which includes the wider MENA region.

For dairy, the GCC is the UK’s second largest export market outside Europe, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia. With an affluent population and limited production capabilities, both consumption and imports of dairy is expected to grow over the next decade, providing further opportunities for the UK. Tariffs on cheese imports into the GCC are low (around 5% on average), but tariff free access will help make UK exports more competitive. 

Red meat consumption is also expected to grow. Lamb is the second most consumed red meat in the GCC after beef mainly due to its cultural importance and so removal of frozen lamb import tariffs from the UK is another positive outcome for UK producers and exporters.

Oats, cereals and biscuits are also set to benefit from tariff free access to the GCC market, with the potential to increase supply to consumers who value quality and provenance of British food.

The majority of tariffs are expected to be removed as soon as the trade deal comes in to force. In addition, there are likely to be wider benefits of a trade agreement such as customs clearance and the ease of doing business, however, details have not yet been published.

A key watch point, however, is the current conflict in the Middle East and its impact on logistics and supply chains. The UK-GCC trade deal will take time to ratify and so it is difficult to estimate the influence of current tensions in the Middle East when the agreement is operational.