NI/EU deal helps British drinks exports but trading with rest of EU remains costly

The recently announced Windsor Framework deal between the EU and Britain will see wine and other alcoholic drinks destined for Northern Ireland be allowed without extra customs checks. But non-trade barriers to the rest of Europe have made exporting wine ridiculously expensive.

ThirtyFifty recently was billed a total of £355 to ship 4L of wine to Spain. A similar amount of wine to France could not be delivered due to a lack of courier firms willing to deal with French customs. Pre Brexit this would have been shipped from the UK to France or Spain for around £80.

Meanwhile, UK gin sales are soaring around the world post Covid, but, to Europe, gin exports are still below pre-Covid, pre-Brexit levels.