UK and EU Agree Draft Deal to Cut Post-Brexit Food Trade Checks

The UK and EU have agreed a draft deal aimed at removing many of the post-Brexit checks and administrative requirements affecting food and agricultural trade, ahead of a UK-EU summit scheduled later this month.

The proposed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, understood to span around 200 pages, has been circulated to EU member states for consideration. It forms part of a wider package of measures that also includes draft agreements on emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme.

The SPS deal is expected to be one of the most significant developments in UK-EU relations since Brexit, reducing border checks and paperwork that have increased costs for businesses trading between the two markets.

If implemented, the agreement would remove requirements for export health certificates, phytosanitary certificates, inspector fees, organic certification costs, certain port charges, sampling fees and other regulatory checks on many food and agricultural products moving between the UK and the EU.

The changes would also allow UK exports of products including fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes to resume.

The proposed arrangements would introduce pet passports for UK travellers taking animals into the EU and require the UK to maintain alignment with EU standards on plant, animal and food trade. The process, known as “dynamic alignment”, would see the UK adopt relevant future changes to EU regulations in these areas.

Further discussions are expected in the coming days on a proposed Youth Experience Scheme, with key details yet to be finalised. Draft agreements are also understood to include provisions covering defence cooperation, law enforcement data sharing and assurances relating to European industrial policies.

The deal is expected to have a particularly significant impact on Northern Ireland, where it could dramatically reduce the practical effects of post-Brexit trading arrangements in the Irish Sea.

Food products moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland currently require paperwork and, in some cases, physical inspections due to Northern Ireland’s continued participation in the EU single market for goods.

Business groups have welcomed the proposals. Representatives from the British Chambers of Commerce argue that the benefits of reduced costs, fewer delays and improved access to European markets outweigh concerns about maintaining closer regulatory alignment with the EU.