Fruit and veg from EU set to get cheaper as UK axes border checks in Brexit reset

14 comments

1. Planned border checks on fruit and vegetables being imported from the EU are being scrapped by the Government following Sir [Keir Starmer](https://inews.co.uk/topic/keir-starmer?ico=in-line_link)’s Brexit reset deal, *The i Paper* can reveal.

   Controls were due to come into force on 1 July following [multiple delays amid warnings they could add to inflation, damage the food supply and put companies out of business](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/new-brexit-food-rules-delayed-avoid-higher-prices-3262761?srsltid=AfmBOopoVAHEdNXJOlCGA5cnV_JNlOHQkT6fpM8WZ0v85MJ2ZK3XZVwo&ico=in-line_link) because Britain imports more than half its fruit and veg, nearly 80 per cent of it from the EU.

   But biosecurity minister Baroness Hayman said the checks would now be scrapped after the Prime Minister struck an in-principle deal on agri-food trade known as an SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) agreement with the EU in May, in a move that will “make food cheaper”.

   Although both sides still need to negotiate the final deal, the Government is moving to ditch the import checks on so-called “medium-risk” fruit and veg such as tomatoes, grapes, plums, cherries, peaches, peppers and more.

   It follows industry warnings that the measures [would have added £200m to the fruit and veg industry’s annual costs](https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/fruit-and-veg-prices-to-rise-unless-starmer-delays-new-eu-border-checks-3240559?ico=in-line_link), which firms would have to pass on to the consumer through higher prices.

   Hayman said: “This Government’s EU deal will make food cheaper, slash bureaucracy and remove cumbersome border controls for businesses.

   “A strengthened, forward-looking partnership with the European Union will deliver for working people as part of our Plan for Change.”

   SPS checks on several types of EU food imports, including meat, fish and dairy, were introduced from 30 April 2024, following years of delay by the Conservatives, and despite an admission by the former government that the controls would add 0.2 per cent to food price inflation over three years.

   But there were multiple delays in applying the post-Brexit red tape, required after the UK left the EU single market and customs union, to fruit and vegetables, with Labour latterly pushing back an expected October start date to July this year.

   Now the checks will never be introduced, with the Government to lift the ongoing controls on meat, fish and dairy at a later date on conclusion of the SPS agreement.

2. I’ve seen the right say this is bad , why ?

   Food prices are currently stupid high and a major cause of hardship currently

3. Be interesting to see if super markets pass on the savings from this though? 

4. Good.

5. Well they don’t check borders for people, so why bother with food

6. brexit was always the problem. rejoin the EU now.

7. Even if the price doesn’t go down, maybe the quality and longevity of the produce will at least improve

8. Can we just go back to the eu yet

9. So we’ve been checking fruit and veg, but not all the illegal immigrants coming over in boats. This country is a joke

10. Our fruit and veg is typically comparable if not cheaper to EU supermarkets, so that’s kinda odd.

11. The mental gymnastics people are trying to do to paint this as somehow as not good news is fascinating.

12. Fruit and veg have more rights and freedom than people.

13. The pros of Brexit: the undoing of Brexit. Nice

14. At least we can start counting the positives from the reset. This is 1. 2 is better security and military ties. 3 will be in increased science funding and co-operation. 4 is easier passport controls.

    Looks like a winner so far!

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