British businesses cheer UK-EU deal to support food trade and profits

The SPS agreement will making trading with the UK’s biggest market faster, easier and cheaper, adding up to £5.1bn a year to the UK economy.

• Local food businesses to hear how the government’s upcoming SPS agreement with the EU will benefit industry and consumers.
• Deal will save businesses time and money by cutting red tape and speeding up trade as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
• Trade with the UK’s biggest market will be faster, easier and cheaper, adding £5.1bn a year to the UK economy.

Major food businesses will discuss the government’s new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)

agreement with the EU that will cut costs, slash red tape and support their profits, with the food security minister Daniel Zeichner. 

Benefits include the scrapping of most routine border checks on food and agricultural products moving between the UK and EU, allowing faster trade across the UK and EU border, with less paperwork and at lower costs for businesses.  

Trading food with the UK’s biggest export and import market will be cheaper and easier, adding up to £5.1 billion a year to the UK economy in the long run and benefitting businesses of all sizes, while easing pressure on consumer food prices.  

Benefits of the new SPS agreement include:  

• British goods such as dairy, fish, eggs and red meat entering the EU are currently subject to 100% documentary checks and up to 30% physical checks. The SPS agreement will see these time-consuming, expensive, and paperwork-riddled processes removed entirely.  
• The removal of Export Health Certificates (an official export document required to trade animals and animal products) alone will save businesses up to £200 per shipment of goods, meaning a single lorry carrying a mixed load of animal products could see £1000s in reduced costs.  
• The EU currently bans imports of basic UK products such as fresh sausages and burgers, some shellfish, and seed potatoes. The SPS agreement will remove this ban and reopen the EU market for these goods, supporting businesses to expand their production and stimulating new jobs.  

The minister will today tour meat processor Dunbia’s Cardington plant outside Bedford with senior Dunbia executives, before visiting Co-op’s flagship distribution centre in Biggleswade with Supply Chain Director Nick Cornwell, Logistics Director Ian Gibb, and Head of Public Affairs Andrew Weston – meeting staff and discussing the forthcoming SPS agreement. 

Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner said:

Helping businesses to grow at home, trade abroad and stimulate jobs is central to our Plan for Change. 

This deal will make trading with the EU both easier and cheaper, adding over £5bn to the economy and spurring growth that the whole country will benefit from.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, Chief Executive of The Co-operative Group, said:

Being able to move food and drink more smoothly between the UK and EU, whilst maintaining high standards, is good news for our industry, for our business, and therefore for our members, customers, and the communities we serve. 

We wholeheartedly welcome the positive steps the government and the EU have taken towards reducing unnecessary friction in the food supply chain. We look forward to working with the UK government to ensure businesses of all sizes – including smaller businesses – benefit from the new arrangements.

Niall Browne, CEO of Dunbia, said:

We welcome the Minister and his colleagues to our plant at Dunbia Cardington to show what we do and the importance of the export business to the EU for Dunbia and the British Food Industry.  

The new SPS agreement between the UK and EU is a very welcomed development and this should result in potential cost savings for our business and a smoother delivery to our EU customers which are important to balance the carcase sales.

Protecting UK biosecurity remains a key government priority, and risk-based surveillance will continue to manage the biosecurity risks of imported food products until the agreement is completed and in force.