Food Sector Calls For Phased Approach To UK-EU SPS Reset To Avoid £810m Loss

UK food and farming organisations are urging the government to build in a transition period if it goes ahead with realigning post‑Brexit agri‑food rules with the EU under the ‘Brexit reset’ talks, arguing an overnight switch back could cost UK businesses up to £810 million. 

Industry groups warn that an immediate alignment of EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules on plant protection products would create a “cliff‑edge” change. 

This would reduce British growers’ ability to control disease, weeds and pests in combinable crops, fruit, vegetables and root crops, hammering productivity and their ability to operate profitably, according to NFU.

Analysis by The Andersons Centre, commissioned by CropLife UK, outlines how immediate and complete alignment with the EU on plant protection products available could cost the arable, horticulture, and sugar sectors between £500 million and £810 million in the first year alone. 

“If we do not have a transition period, it would have very damaging consequences,” warned David Bench, chief executive of Croplife, a trade organisation that represents the agrichemical sector.

The concern is driven by accumulated regulatory divergence since Brexit, including approval of certain fungicides and other plant protection products in the UK that are not authorised in the EU, which could suddenly render some crops unsellable into EU markets.

Since January 2021, four new plant protection products have been approved in Great Britain that are not yet available in the EU. 

Immediate alignment with EU rules in June 2027 could lead to the sudden loss of access to these and other key plant protection products.

Sensible Year-Long Transition Needed 

Farmers and food sector representatives are calling for a phased realignment over roughly one year, ideally longer. 

This would allow time to adjust crop protection regimes, contracts and supply chains, and to avoid waste or stranded product. 

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the CropLife report confirms what NFU has been outlining at the highest level within government for months.

“Implementing appropriate transition periods is absolutely vital to enable farm businesses to adapt,” emphasised Bradshaw in a press statement. 

“For plant protection products, the best option would be for British farmers to retain access to GB-approved plant protection products until the EU rules are next reviewed, rather than being pushed towards a cliff-edge because of an arbitrary deadline,” Bradshaw added.  

The push for a transition period comes as technical talks on the UK–EU “reset” get under way in London. 

Among the objectives is to remove export barriers to the EU that have added an estimated £8.4bn in costs, and contributed to an 18% decrease in goods trade as well as a 24% decline in food and drink trade compared with pre‑Brexit levels, highlighted by parliamentary trade committees.

For fresh produce, meanwhile, the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) is urging policymakers to tread carefully. 

FPC points out that an SPS agreement that focuses primarily on EU alignment could unintentionally trigger new controls on Rest of World (RoW) imports — products that are destined solely for the UK market and never move into the EU.

Have Your Say About BTOM

The UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is currently gathering evidence on how the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is operating in practice. 

Defra is asking industry stakeholders to share their on-the-ground experiences via a series of research interviews in February, conducted online by Ecorys, an independent research organisation. 

Email Ecorys by 20 February to confirm participation in a BTOM research interview, or for more information.

Read FPC’s presentation on how the EU/UK SPS Common Agreement Impacts On The Fresh Produce Industry.