The UK has completed a draft food and drink agreement with the EU, according to media reports, with a 200-page text having been circulated to member states ahead of a meeting on Wednesday.
The BBC reported overnight that the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal text had been agreed alongside an agreement on emissions trading and youth mobility.
It added that the draft texts would also include “some references to UK involvement in defence co-operation schemes, access to law enforcement databases and some reassurances over the EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ plans”, which had reportedly disrupted negotiations earlier this year.
EU ambassadors will also discuss a 15-page draft joint statement for UK and EU leaders, with an official announcement expected at the UK/EU summit on 20 November.
The BBC described the draft texts as “the most significant part of the so-called Brexit reset agreed so far”. Alongside the removal of border checks and certification for agrifood exporters, the deal will also do away with ‘not for EU labelling’ and border checks for goods shipped between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reported The Guardian.
But following the delay in negotiations caused by the resignation of Keir Starmer, implementation may not be completed until 2028, it added.
The Cabinet Office told The Grocer it didn’t not comment on speculation, though industry sources say ministers believe the proposed deal is now “in a good spot” ahead of the EU summit.
However, it comes as some food sector leaders continue to express fears over the potential unintended consequences of dynamic alignment with EU rules under the SPS deal.
Fresh Produce Consortium CEO Nigel Jenney – who has been a vocal critic of the proposed deal – today reiterated warnings the agreement would add more than £300m in annual extra costs onto importers bringing in fresh produce from outside the EU, due to the need for these products to meet EU regulations.
“If we adopt the EU’s inspection approach, checks will increase substantially for goods sourced from countries outside the EU,” he said.
“The UK imports 65% of its fresh produce, with 54% coming from non-EU countries. It’s around four million tonnes annually so fundamental to feeding the nation,” Jenney added.
Under dynamic alignment, inspections could apply for up to 100% of all consignments and would represent a “major change, adding significant costs for the industry and UK consumers”, he warned.
The FPC has been campaigning for the UK to keep its current approach for rest of the world fresh produce imports – which saw the government remove significant border checks post-Brexit, “based on its own assessment of UK biosecurity risk rather than the EU’s protectionist approach”.
And unless it secured a “win, win solution” and supported the trade body’s proposals, the government was “simply moving the problem to our global trading partners” and not resolving border friction issues, Jenney stressed.
His concerns were shared by Marco Forgione, director general of the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, who said “we need to understand what [the SPS deal] means for businesses that aren’t trading with EU. It would seem there will be a negative impact and potential costs and delays”.
With food and drink trade with the EU down by a quarter on pre-Brexit levels, the deal was described as “the best news the food industry has had in the past 10 years”, Provision Trade Federation director general Rod Addy.
He understood the deal would also allow the UK access to the EU digital TRACES system, which manages import, export and intra-EU trade for animals, plants and related products, “so we should have greater visibility of any issues impacting on our commercial relationship with the EU”.
However, Addy also cautioned “the agreement will not, of course, address all trading issues”.
The UK remained outside the EU Common Market and Customs Union, “which means it still faces customs paperwork, inspections and charges and it will have less influence than it did before on EU policy and legislation, while having to conform to it”, Addy pointed out.
“And there will be similar teething problems to those seen when the UK left the EU in shifting to the newly agreed trading processes. The success of any transition period will depend on how well industry and government collaborate.”
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