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Some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets and food producers, including Marks and Spencer and J Sainsbury, are calling on the EU to agree to a contract with the UK government to smooth out the export of plant and animal products across the UK channel.
A strong industry intervention supporting the “veterinary agreement” between London and Brussels is to prepare for the May 19th summit to “reset” the trade and security relationships that have suffered as a result of Brexit.
In a letter seen by the Financial Times, the 12 companies told Maroššef Chovich, the vice-chairman of the EU committee responsible for Brexit negotiations.
He also added a letter signed by retailers Morrisons, Lidl, Ocado and Meat Processors Cranswick and two sisters, as “unnecessary deficits” meant “unnecessary deficits” because Brexit meant “very expensive” food and drinks.
It is ahead of the local elections on May 1 in the UK. There, Nigel Farage’s Pro Brexit Reform British Party is predicted to pose a strong challenge to the Labour Party, the ruling star of Ir Keel.
The government has pledged to remove red tape from the border, including export health certificates and other documents, in sought a veterinary agreement with the EU.
Both the EU and the UK have indicated their intention to close out veterinarians or the Sanitation and Plants (SPS). However, Brussels has made it clear that the UK should include “dynamic alignment” with EU law, which must automatically transfer EU law into the legal book.
This week, Lord David Frost, a conservative peer who negotiated the original EU-UK trade agreement, accused the minister of preparing to “sell out” the UK’s independent autonomy by attacking veterinary transactions.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that Labour will sell out the country again,” Frost told the Sun newspaper, reporting that the government is considering accepting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice on some elements of the transaction.
The industry is concerned that a strong show of right-wing populist reform in the pro-Brexit realm could rattle the regime of the stakeholders and reduce the ambitions of the EU-UK reset.
An industry executive said the letter was intended to “suppress the spines” on both sides as political debates about the reset became heated and revealed that there was a “benefit for everyone” when trading in terms of work, growth and food prices.
The EU accounted for more than 70% of UK food and beverage imports last year, worth £45 billion and 57% of UK exports. This is worth £14 billion.
The food and drink industry is one of Brexit’s most difficult blows. Food exports to the UK fell 34.1% last year compared to 2019, according to a survey released last month by the Food and Drinks Federation.
European food and drink imports rose 3.3% compared to last year in 2023. This is because European goods have fewer checks when entering the UK, so fewer British goods are than they enter the block.
The letter’s signatories said contracts to remove border friction will promote economic growth and increase investment in the UK and the EU.
“In the end, what we aim to suffer is not just to farmers, growers and workers in the UK and EU supply chains,” they write.
The Cabinet Office stated: “As part of our strategic alliance with the EU, we welcome the support of Manifesto’s commitment to negotiating our manifesto agreement to negotiate ambitious SPS contracts at a cheaper price than the people’s table.”
The European Commission declined to comment.
Additional Reports by Laura Onita of London
