UK and EU Strike Draft Deal to Cut Post-Brexit Food Export Checks

Britain and Brussels have reached a draft agreement to scrap red tape on food and farm exports, ahead of this month’s UK-EU summit.

A Major Step in the Brexit Reset

The UK and EU have agreed a draft deal to remove post-Brexit checks on food and agriculture trade. This comes ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month.

Sources say a 200-page draft text for this “SPS” (sanitary and phytosanitary) agreement has reached EU nations in Brussels. Officials will discuss it at a meeting on Wednesday.

Similar drafts covering emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have also been shared. A 15-page joint statement for UK and EU leaders accompanies these texts.

This food deal marks the biggest move yet in the Brexit reset process. It aims to remove checks and red tape that have hurt exporters since Britain left the single market.

What the Deal Removes

The agreement would scrap several costly requirements. These include £200 Export Health Certificates and £25 Phytosanitary certificates.

Inspector fees, organic certificates, some port fees and sampling charges would also disappear for goods moving between the UK and EU.

The government estimates the UK economy could eventually gain £5.1 billion a year from these changes.

British exporters would also regain the ability to send fresh sausages, burgers and shellfish from domestic waters to the EU. Seed potato exports would resume too.

Pet owners taking animals into the EU would benefit as well, with pet passports becoming available under the new arrangement.

The Price of Closer Ties: Dynamic Alignment

Under this deal, the UK commits to following and adjusting to EU rules on plant, animal and food trade standards. This process is known as “dynamic alignment”.

British rules largely match EU standards already. However, some gaps exist, such as England’s approach to “precision breeding”, once called gene editing.

Negotiators have recently agreed transition arrangements to manage the rollout of new EU regulations in these areas.

The government has introduced a European Partnerships Bill. This creates a legal pathway for applying new EU rules going forward.

The bill will also help link the UK’s emissions trading scheme with the EU’s system. This move would spare UK exporters from paying the EU’s new carbon border tax.

Timeline and Wider Scope

EU ambassadors will review the draft agreements at a Coreper meeting on Wednesday. Some details of the Youth Experience Scheme’s numbers still need political approval in coming days.

A planned discount on foreign student fees for EU students may be delayed until next year. Plans to reconnect UK and EU electricity markets could follow a similar timeline.

Reports suggest the draft agreements touch on defence cooperation too. They may also include access to law enforcement databases and assurances regarding the EU’s “Made in Europe” strategy.

Mixed Reactions from Business and Brexit Supporters

Supermarkets and farming groups have welcomed the food trade proposals. Yet some pro-Brexit campaigners have pushed back against reapplying EU rules.

The original post-Brexit trade deal under Boris Johnson prioritised regulatory independence. It favoured freedom from EU rules over avoiding new trade barriers.