The Fresh Produce Consortium has warned of new costs, greater complexity and more border friction as a result of proposed UK-EU SPS arrangements
The UK government’s latest guidelines on the proposed UK-EU SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) arrangements, designed to ease restrictions on UK-EU trade, risk shifting the burden onto “critical global supply routes”, according to the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC).
FPC said there was a danger of “substantial new costs, complexity and border friction across the UK food supply chain”.
“While the government has highlighted measures designed to ease certain aspects of UK-EU trade,” FPC said in a statement, “the wider operational reality is that the burden is simply being shifted onto critical global supply routes through the introduction of unnecessary EU-style controls on imports from the Rest of the World.”
The industry body estimated that the changes could end up adding over £300mn in extra costs, falling primarily on the UK’s fresh produce sector.
“The government’s newly published guidance confirms that the UK will align with EU SPS rules on Rest of World imports, introducing increased inspections, additional phytosanitary certification requirements, expanded pre-notification obligations and wider compliance measures on goods entering the UK from non-EU countries – despite those products being destined solely for UK consumption,” FPC stated.
This marks a significant policy shift away from the post-Brexit, science-based and risk-led border regime, FPC stated, to a more politically-driven one.
Nigel Jenney, FPC’s chief executive, commented: “The government continues to present this agreement as a solution that will reduce barriers and simplify trade. However, the detail emerging from its own guidance tells a very different story.
“What we are seeing is a selective and politically driven ‘pick and mix’ approach to trade policy, highlighting the benefits of EU alignment while failing to acknowledge the very significant burdens now being imposed elsewhere across the supply chain. For the fresh produce sector, this does not remove friction or cost. It simply relocates it.”
FPC has continuously warned of the importance of a balance between domestic production and reliable global imports for the UK’s fresh produce needs. Around half of the UK’s fresh produce imports are sourced from the Rest of the World, it said, with compliance standing at over 99.5 per cent across 120,000 consignments a year.
“The concern is not cooperation with Europe,” Jenney said. “FPC supports pragmatic solutions that genuinely improve trade and strengthen resilience. The concern is that government appears prepared to impose a more rigid and protectionist EU-style system without properly assessing the wider consequences for UK food security, supply chain resilience and consumer affordability.
“The UK already operates a proven, proportionate and science-based SPS regime. Replacing that with a more bureaucratic and method-based system delivers no measurable biosecurity benefit while creating significant additional cost and complexity.
“On behalf of members we have repeatedly offered practical and workable solutions that would improve UK-EU trade flows without compromising vital Rest of World supply chains. Those solutions appear once again to have been knowingly ignored by the government.”
FPC also questioned the practical implications of extending inspections across millions of tonnes of highly perishable produce entering the UK every year.
“Serious questions remain about the practical reality, infrastructure requirements, inspection capacity and cost implications of applying expanded controls to millions of tonnes of highly perishable fresh produce when the current system is already delivering exceptionally high compliance outcomes,” said Jenney.
FPC has called on the government to publish a full independent impact assessment prior to agreeing to any final SPS alignment measures. It also demanded formal engagement with the fresh produce sector on practical alternatives that safeguard both EU trade and critical global supply routes.
