UK government seeks new agri-food deal with EU to ease trade barriers

31 Jul 2024 --- The UK government is hoping to negotiate a new agreement with the EU in an effort to ease problems of trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, according to reports. Agriculture groups and think tanks have welcomed the latest development but say there is a long way to go.

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new EU ministerial envoy, told journalists on a recent visit to Stormont that when meeting with the EU, he wants to prioritize Northern Ireland, reports the BBC.

“I know it is really important with the European Union that we have good faith in implementing the Windsor Framework going forward in the medium term in terms of an SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] agreement, because I’m sure you'll all appreciate it’s not going to just appear, it’s going to need to be negotiated,” he says. 

Thomas-Symonds adds that he does not expect “hard-edged, formal negotiations” to begin until early next year. 

“But do I hope that an SPS agreement, an ambitious SPS agreement, is going to ease the situation in terms of GB/NI trade? Absolutely, yes.” 

Scrapping border checks
A new SPS agreement would allow retail agri-food goods, plants, seeds, potatoes and other items to be traded between the UK and EU, essentially scrapping border checks implemented under the Brexit deal.

The UK government wants to negotiate a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU.

The Windsor Framework, which is expected to come into effect on September 30, 2024, is an agreement between the EU and the UK government on trading protocols to address post-Brexit practical challenges faced by businesses in Northern Ireland. It covers customs, agri-food and medicines, among other areas. It provides a “green lane” through which trusted traders can move their goods.

Ben Reynolds, executive director of the think tank Institute for European Environmental Policy UK, tells Food Ingredients First that the news highlight’s Labour’s ambitions to work more closely with the EU. 

He says while the main driver is economic, it could have implications for some areas of environmental standards affecting food and agricultural products and anticipates that the government will have to do a lot of “heavy lifting.” 

“This could lead to alignment on pesticide standards which are higher in the EU and also may shine a spotlight on Genetically Modified Organisms, where the UK has taken a different track since leaving the EU. Other topics that might come into discussion would be food labeling, alien species and biosecurity,” he explains.

“A question mark hangs over whether the EU would accept that the UK has one set of standards for products traded with the EU and another for our other trade deals. This is where it could get very knotty, as the EU will be keen to ensure, as they always have, that these products don’t enter the EU via the UK’s backdoor. Expect the UK to do some of the heavy lifting with shifting its standards in order to improve this trading relationship.”

One key benefit of an agreement could be reduced border checks on UK exports to the EU, placing them at the same level the UK applies to imports from the EU. A spokesperson for the Food and Drink Federation tells Food Ingredients First that UK exports to the EU face up to 30% checks, while EU exports to the UK are at 1%. 

“We’re interested to hear a discussion of a possible SPS agreement with the EU, which has the potential to ease trade in food and drink with our nearest trading partner. However, negotiating this wouldn’t be easy and would require compromises as well as gains, which would need to be carefully worked through alongside industry,” they say. 

The Federation adds that such a deal might generally benefit specific subsectors, such as fish, meat and dairy suppliers and that more “comprehensive cooperation” would be required on food safety matters.

Ease bureaucracy 
Lobby group Copa-Cogeca has also cautiously welcomed the news, hoping it could facilitate the trade in agri-food products and ease bureaucracy following Brexit.

Ksenija Simović, the organization’s senior policy advisor, tells Food Ingredients First: “In short, we would hope for a good agreement that would allow for frictionless trade and a more stable trading relationship. Of course, it is a negotiation that will require some time, so we will, in this sense, be an interested and supportive stakeholder to the European Commission to guarantee a favorable outcome for our producers.”

The government announced earlier this month that Thomas-Symonds would be traveling to Brussels for his first face-to-face meeting with the EU Commission executive vice president Maroš Šefčovič. It said the meeting aimed to set the ground for further discussions between the UK and EU “as the UK seeks to reset its relationship with the bloc and build closer cooperation on shared issues.”

The Cabinet Office did not respond in time for comment at the time of writing. 

By Sade Laja