![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/19446409.png\"\/)
<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney said the sector was being left in the dark.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe industry cannot prepare because it doesn\u2019t have adequate information on time and has no confidence in the UK government because they say one thing and do another,” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019ve already, as an industry, shown commitment. We have invested huge amounts of money, millions of pounds, in building infrastructure in good faith at our own cost to allow goods to be inspected\n<\/p>\n
\n “These are now largely underutilised due to a deliberate failure to provide enough official inspectors. Without urgent action, these sites will become white elephants.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n His comments follow yet another last-minute delay to SPS checks on EU imports \u2013 the fifth since Brexit.\n<\/p>\n
\n Businesses that had prepared in good faith are now facing serious financial losses.\n<\/p>\n
\n PML Seafrigo, which manages cold supply chains, spent over \u00a37 million on a new customs facility in Kent. Chief executive Mike Parr said that investment may now be wasted.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe spent all that money training our guys in the process, and it\u2019s going to be of no use now,\u201d he said. \u201cThe writing is on the wall.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Food and Drink Federation chief executive Karen Betts echoed those concerns, stressing that the EU is still the UK\u2019s biggest food and drink market.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOur manufacturers need stability and a functioning trade system, not policy lurches,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The chaos has been especially damaging for citrus importers, who rely on predictable regulations. Defra had only recently signalled a new operator scheme was imminent, triggering another round of costly preparation.\n<\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, trade losses are mounting. A report by the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy shows UK food and drink exports to the EU have dropped 16% since Brexit, blaming red tape and uncertainty.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now, the FPC and port authorities are pushing for compensation. The British Ports Association says UK ports spent over \u00a3120m preparing for checks \u2013 including \u00a323m at Portsmouth International Port alone.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jenney said the government must take responsibility.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThese facilities were built in good faith, under clear government direction. If they\u2019re now surplus to requirements, the government must do the right thing and reimburse those who acted responsibly.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) is demanding a clear timetable for a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-154527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114618889882463034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}