THIS WEEK the Brexit focus is on trade and the potential to secure trade deals outside the EU customs union or single market.

This also has implications for devolution and Scotland could add a further twist to an already complex issue.

It would good if the cabinet ministers in London advocating a hard Brexit, because of potential trade deals, could explain how these would be of more benefit to farming and food than a customs union with the EU-27.

For other sectors of the economy, new free trade deals might well be beneficial, but it is hard to see how these could deliver more for food exports than selling into a market on our doorstep of more than 500 million people.

It is easy to see the attractions of the UK market for many countries on the UK target list for trade deals. The government, through the Defra minister, Michael Gove, has said there will be no dilution of environmental or animal welfare standards with imports. However there is no proof this will be the case. If it comes down to a deal or no deal choice with some of the countries with which the UK desperately wants a trade deal, it is difficult to believe food will not be the loser.

The implication when talk turns to trade is that Brexit will deliver markets to which the UK does not now have access. However in reality, as an EU member state, the UK has access to countries around the world with which the EU has trade deals.

There may be a belief at Westminster, particularly amongst those advocating a hard Brexit, that the UK will do better deals than the EU. That may be the case, but realistically with an offer of 60 million consumers, against 500 million in the EU, London does not have as strong a hand as Brussels.

The UK certainly has some unique technology to sell and some impressive skills in the finance sector, but then so do other countries in the EU.

When it comes to food exports, the EU is currently enjoying boom times, with exports at record levels for just about every product. It is doing well in the mass commodity markets and with speciality niche products.

The numbers are certainly impressive, according to statistics just released by the European Commission. At €138 billion, food and drink exports in 2017 were up by 5% on 2016. The big successes, in terms of securing extra business, were the United States and Russia, but growth was also strong in much of Asia including China, and Japan, with which the EU has just concluded a free trade deal.

Product successes included milk powder, wine and spirits, while pigmeat was less successful because higher prices in the EU pushed it out of many markets. Food imports also rose, but more slowly than exports. The EU is committed to securing further trade deals and sees food as a priority.

These latest statistics include UK successes, since exporters have gained from the weakness of sterling. That UK success was achieved within the trade arrangements put in place by Brussels with third countries.

It would be fair to a vital industry in Scotland if ministers in London reassured them that they will be better than Brussels in negotiating trade deals. These are the commercial bottom line. The industry needs to be persuaded that what will be delivered will be better than the current combination of access to third countries via EU trade deals and access to the EU through a customs union. Sell that to the industry and some of the deep concerns it and the Scottish government have would be allayed.

On a different note the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is someone prepared to do things differently. He set a new record for a French president, when he was booed and jostled by farmers at the big Paris agricultural show. This was despite him promising €5 billion for a 'cultural revolution' to move away from intensive farming and CAP subsidies towards greener policies and farm diversification. This would include his plan to ban or restrict pesticides and his commitment to eventually secure an EU-wide ban on glyphosate.

His message is an urban view of agriculture and farmers saw through his spin. He could well become yet another politician that ultimately regrets taking on the might of the farming lobby and the political power of 'la France profonde'.