UK and EU settle draft food-trade deal to ease post-Brexit checks

The UK and European Union have settled a draft agreement designed to remove most post-Brexit checks on food, animals, plants and related products, but implementation is not expected until the first quarter of 2028. The 200-page sanitary and phytosanitary, or SPS, text has been circulated to EU member states ahead of a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels. The agreement is expected to be presented alongside draft arrangements covering emissions trading, youth travel and work, and a wider joint statement for a UK-EU summit on 20 November.

The agreement would allow exports such as fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from British waters and seed potatoes to resume with fewer formalities. It is also intended to remove export health certificates, phytosanitary certificates, some inspection and port fees, and other checks on goods moving between Britain and the EU. The draft joint statement says most movements of animals, animal products, plants and plant products between Great Britain, the Crown Dependencies and the EU would take place without the certificates or controls currently required.

British pets travelling to the EU would again be able to use passports, according to the BBC. The UK government estimates that the agreement could eventually generate annual benefits of £5.1bn. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda that a UK-EU agreement could add 0.4% to gross domestic product.

The Guardian reported that the package would also include British participation in parts of the EU electricity market, in return for an appropriate financial contribution. The deal would require Britain to follow and adapt to existing EU rules on food, plant and animal standards, a process known as dynamic alignment. That requirement is central to the implementation delay.

Although the UK has largely retained EU standards, it has diverged in areas including fungicides used on crops, meaning domestic legislation must be updated before the framework can operate. The delay has frustrated some businesses. Jon Walsh of Bio&Me told the BBC that his company stopped exporting yoghurt because veterinary inspections cost £140 per pallet and made shipments unprofitable.

He said some granola and overnight-oat shipments had also been returned. The National Farmers’ Union said exports of British food to the EU had fallen by a third since Brexit, with eggs, chicken and potato products among the worst affected, according to The Guardian. The new system is expected to help food exporters and allow smaller UK retailers to buy smaller batches of European cheese and wine.

Political reaction has been divided. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said dynamic alignment was a red line, while Reform UK called alignment a surrender of sovereignty. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Al Pinkerton described the proposal as a patch rather than a permanent fix.

In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party said it lacked ambition, while the Ulster Unionists gave a cautious welcome, saying checks would be reduced but not eliminated.