Dairy disappointment at India-UK trade deal

At face value, the recently announced trade deal between the UK and India may, over time, be good news for Scottish distillers. However, there are likely to be fewer benefits and potential threats for our dairy sector writes NFU Scotland Milk Committee Chair Bruce Mackie.

We would recognise that a vibrant agricultural sector is probably the bedrock of any developing country and milk plays a significant role in human nutrition across all economies. India has the most dairy cows in the world and there are cultural and religious reasons around this. In 2023, the Indian cattle herd of 307.5 million head composed of some 194.2 million head of bovine dairy cattle of which 61 million were in milk and 113.3 million water buffaloes.

However, the average yield per cow in India of under 6.5 litres per day compares with 30 litres per day for cows in recorded Holstein herds in the UK. That implies a huge carbon foot print per kilo of milk. Through this deal, the UK not only risks exporting its carbon footprint but significantly increasing it.

In reality, UK dairy farmers and our dairy sector should be exporting nutrient rich, sustainably produced dairy goods to India to support the country both nutritionally and in helping reduce its carbon footprint.

Unfortunately, there are no reductions on tariffs for our dairy exports to India while its dairy imports will come here tariff free. From a dairy perspective, this is a case of disappointingly poor negotiation by the UK Government.

The Indian dairy sector is hugely ambitious. While, under Sanitary and Phytosanitary requirements, Indian dairy goods would currently struggle to meet UK standards, its intention to become a major exporter of dairy products is well known. Under the terms of this agreement, that dairy produce could have tariff-free access to the UK in the future. That is a serious concern for the sector.

Source : Dairynews7x7 July 30th 2025 NFUS By Dairy Committee Chair Bruce Mackie