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The British Poultry Council warned last year that lack of a level playing field was eroding business viability and pushing up U.K. production costs. It continued that, in 2023, the U.K. exported 167,000 MT of poultry meat to the EU, down from 380,000 MT in 2020. Imports from the EU, rose over the same period to stand at 675,000 MT in 2023. DutchScenery | iStock.com
The U.K. poultry industry has reacted favorably to the U.K. and EU agreement to ease trade and border checks.
A new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement will be developed making EU market access easier for the U.K.’s poultry exporters, reducing the red tape that has weighed U.K. exporters down since the country’s departure from the EU. The deal should see some checks on animal plant products removed completely, allowing goods to flow freely again.
The details of the SPS agreement are now being negotiated, but the move has been broadly welcomed by U.K. poultry and other food and farming bodies given that the EU remains the U.K.’s largest trading partner.
Much needed move
British Poultry Council (BPC) Chief Executive Richard Griffiths commented: “This is a much-needed move that will give our producers and consumers the confidence they deserve. That includes the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Removing barriers here is essential to avoid delays and added costs that impact poultry meat business.”
The U.K.’s poultry meat exports to the EU have fallen by 30% since 2020, official data reveals, a direct result of the U.K.’s departure from the EU, the BPC says.
It goes on to note that certification alone has cost U.K. exporters of products of animal origin a total of GBP250 million (US$339 million) since 2020 and continues that EU exporters do not face the same costs or bureaucracy as U.K. producers given the U.K.’s ineffective border controls.
Griffiths continued: “We have long said an SPS agreement is the most meaningful way to reduce barriers and to unlock opportunity for British poultry meat.”
Broad support
The announcement was also as enthusiastically welcomed by the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA), which commented that the new agreement would be a game-changer, removing bureaucratic burdens and increasing efficiency.
The commons SPS area under negotiation will be a collaborative arrangement, enabling mutual standards recognition while allowing certain divergences, and the BMPA believes that the U.K. has secured a unique “decision-shaping” role within the EU’s veterinary governance structures, allowing concerns and priorities to be voiced.
One of the most immediate benefits will be in logistics. Haulers will again be able to make multiple drops to various customers across the EU with a single truck load.
This will be a major improvement over the current situation that has seen companies having to send large consignments to single distribution hubs for further processing, packing and delivery. This has been because it has not been viable to send small, varied consignments of products in a single load due to onerous certification requirements and border checks.
SIDEBAR
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