Few stand to gain from air tax reform

The subject of airfreight always stirs up emotion. Almost as much, in fact, as the subject of tax.

Put the two together and you’ve got a recipe for hot debate, with environmentalists using the opportunity to advocate more domestic production and importers claiming third world producers will be the ones to suffer if the government introduces a per plane tax to replace the current passenger duty.

The truth is that the UK only imports 1.5 per cent of its fruit and veg requirements by air, a fraction that it would be easy to dismiss as insignificant.

On the contrary though, much of this is high value lines that are financially important to the nations that produce them.Airfreight is used to plug gaps between seasons and ensure continuity of supply, and without its small but important contribution we’d have tales of consumers up in arms over occasionally bare shelves.

Sales of exotic produce suffered badly enough in the recession as it was without taxes potentially pushing up the cost further. If unemployment continues to rise as predicted and shoppers go on re-evaluating their spend, importers could face more misery and falling margins.

It wouldn’t be the first time the food industry is collateral damage for government goals, and the argument that the tax would reduce carbon emissions certainly doesn’t hold true from a fresh produce perspective.

The industry needs clarity on this issue, and quickly. There will be a number of importers awaiting next week’s emergency budget very nervously indeed.