EFFICIENT UK horticulture and agriculture pose more of a threat to farmers in the 10 new accession countries than they pose to their UK counterparts, according to NFU president Tim Bennett.

He was speaking at the launch of a research report, EU Enlargement - The Challenge for British Farming, this week to clarify the myths reported in the media about the effect on UK farming from the 10 new member states joining the existing EU15.

"Rather than seeing enlargement as a threat, farmers must embrace the change and rise to the challenge. If anything it is efficient UK farmers that are a threat to the new member countries," said Bennett.

From May 1, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta will become part of the EU, and the NFU president encouraged UK farmers to work together in Europe to become more competitive and to take advantage of opportunities.

The report urges UK growers to co-operate and establish export links as soon as possible. "UK growers will face immediate competition in the sale of fruit and vegetables. But farmers exporting to the existing EU15 will also have to comply with EU-wide regulations which are costly to implement," said NFU economist Simon Michel-Berger.

Michel-Berger, the author of the report, outlined three main points at the launch:

• Structural change in the EU farming sector needs to be understood by farmers. Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic are the largest economies joining and are already exporting to the EU15 through links established with retailers. The industry is in a transitional phase and will develop over the next five to 10 years before reaching the efficiency of the EU15. Despite labour and land being cheaper, the costs of compliance will be a hindrance and local farmers need to adjust to the pressures of a single market. For example in Poland, the uptake of farmers applying for EU subsidies is very low because of lack of training and understanding. UK farmers should address these changes in their decision-making regarding operations.

"Production systems in the new members will be less efficient than in the EU15. There are lower yields, less capital and fledgling supply chain structures," said Michel-Berger. "However, as these gradually develop, farmers will become more competitive on an increasing range of products, and production in the new member states has great potential."

• Enlargement is a challenge not a threat. Michel-Berger stressed that it is a fallacy that the UK will be a victim of a flood of cheap imports - agricultural trade with many of these countries has already been liberalised "and competitive pressures are forecast to increase gradually". There will be immediate competition in certain agricultural sectors in the UK including fruit and vegetables.

• Export opportunities exist for UK farmers. Growth rates in the new member states will be higher - forecasts of 10 per cent a year over the mid-term - and demand for high value and premium products will rise.

Germany and Austria have schemes assisting growers to promote products to the newcomers. The UK needs to create a stronger awareness of its high-quality produce and growers should use their relationships with UK retailers entering the newer economies. Michel-Berger said fruit and vegetable producers in the new states are very efficient and have established retail links that will gradually build up pressure and competition in this sector. This is evident as both exports and volume from these countries have increased, mainly due to the relationships with European retailers and this trend is forecast to continue. Looking at fresh apples and pears, the UK traded mainly with Poland and Hungary in 2003. From Poland, £150,000 worth of produce was imported, compared to £12,000 in 2000 and the trend of imports from Poland is significantly up.

"The UK agricultural sector needs to communicate with the 10 new member states with promotional material aimed at these countries, in their language to educate them about working in the UK," continued Michel-Berger. The UK is one of the few countries allowing almost free movement of labour from May 1. The labour pool available is significant and may be an important source for seasonal workers.

Further efforts should be made to encourage growers to educate the potential labour force about working in the UK since countries such as Poland are keen on a labour transition scheme.

The NFU president urged UK growers to take on the challenges and benefit from export opportunities. He said: " More people in the new member states will benefit from rising incomes and look to buy premium products. UK farmers will need to take on the challenge from competitors to win these markets."

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