Draft of bilateral agremeent designed to remove costly red tape and administrative barriers ahead of upcoming UK-EU leaders’ summit
The UK and EU have reportedly agreed a draft sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal on dismantling post-Brexit checks from food and agriculture exports.
Ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month, the BBC has reported that a 200-page draft text has been circulated to EU nations in Brussels for consideration at a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday 4 November.
The deal, which is slated to take effect in mid-2027, is designed to remove post-Brexit red tape including border checks and documentation requirements that hit exporters after the UK exited the EU’s single market.
It is expected to scrap costly certification paperwork, such as £200 Export Health Certificates, £25 Phytosanitary certificates, inspector fees, organic certificates, port and sampling fees as well as other checks.
The agreement is aimed to reduce operational overhead and slash transit delays for perishable goods, and as a result of the agreement the government has claimed the UK economy will eventually £5.1bn worth of annual benefits.
It will also resume specific banned UK exports to the EU, with seed potatoes among those included.
The framework also commits the UK to ‘dynamic alignment’, which means domestic rules will automatically keep in step with future changes in EU regulations.
While many UK retailers and farmers have backed the SPS plans, the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has criticised the deal, warning that the reset could add more than £300mn annually to fresh produce supply chains, as well as greater complexity and more border friction.
“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.”
Prime minister Andy Burnham has said that he would like to see Britain rejoin the bloc in his lifetime.
Burnham is expected to meet EU leaders in Brussels on 20 November to hold their second post-Brexit summit, with a joint declaration expected at the conclusion of the meeting.
