UK, EU Prepare Deal to Ease Post-Brexit Food Export Rules
(MENAFN) The United Kingdom and European Union have reached a draft agreement intended to reduce post-Brexit paperwork, inspections and costs for food and agricultural exports ahead of a planned summit later this month.
A 200-page draft of the proposed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement has been distributed to EU member states in Brussels for review at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, according to reports.
Draft texts addressing emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme allowing travel and employment have also been circulated, together with a 15-page proposed joint statement for British and EU leaders.
Considered the most substantial element of the ongoing effort to reset post-Brexit relations, the SPS agreement is designed to remove a range of inspections and administrative charges introduced after the UK left the EU single market.
Under the proposal, exporters would no longer face costs for export health certificates priced at £200 (nearly $270), phytosanitary certificates costing £25, inspection services, organic certification, certain port charges and sampling procedures. Other checks on goods moving between the two markets would also be removed.
The arrangement would additionally reopen the way for British exports of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish harvested in domestic waters and seed potatoes.
The UK government estimates that the agreement could generate £5.1 billion in annual economic gains once its benefits are fully realized.
The proposed package is part of broader efforts by London and Brussels to improve relations and address trade barriers that emerged following Brexit.
Discussing the political debate over closer cooperation with the EU, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently said that “public opinion has changed nationally” since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
He nevertheless cautioned against moving faster than public sentiment, saying he would “not run ahead of public opinion” on the matter. “The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit,” he added.
A 200-page draft of the proposed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement has been distributed to EU member states in Brussels for review at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, according to reports.
Draft texts addressing emissions trading and a youth mobility scheme allowing travel and employment have also been circulated, together with a 15-page proposed joint statement for British and EU leaders.
Considered the most substantial element of the ongoing effort to reset post-Brexit relations, the SPS agreement is designed to remove a range of inspections and administrative charges introduced after the UK left the EU single market.
Under the proposal, exporters would no longer face costs for export health certificates priced at £200 (nearly $270), phytosanitary certificates costing £25, inspection services, organic certification, certain port charges and sampling procedures. Other checks on goods moving between the two markets would also be removed.
The arrangement would additionally reopen the way for British exports of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish harvested in domestic waters and seed potatoes.
The UK government estimates that the agreement could generate £5.1 billion in annual economic gains once its benefits are fully realized.
The proposed package is part of broader efforts by London and Brussels to improve relations and address trade barriers that emerged following Brexit.
Discussing the political debate over closer cooperation with the EU, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently said that “public opinion has changed nationally” since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
He nevertheless cautioned against moving faster than public sentiment, saying he would “not run ahead of public opinion” on the matter. “The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit,” he added.
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