British agri-food exports to the EU have decreased by 16% on average per year compared to the previous three-year pre-Brexit period, according to a new report by the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP). The food industry has called on the government to urgently finalize plans for a new agri-food deal to help ease trade barriers. 

The dro in British exports amounts to around £3 billion (US$3.8 billion) per year. The report suggests there are no signs of exports returning to their previous levels, even though some of the decline can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The UK agri-food sector accounts for around 13% of Britain’s employment and the food and drink industry is its biggest manufacturing sector by turnover, contributing £147 billion (US$187 billion) — around 6.5% — to Gross Value Added in 2022.   

Major border control issues

Plans for the government to facilitate a new agri deal with the EU, known as a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) agreement, have been in discussion since Britain left the single market in January 2021.

Emma Knaggs, deputy chief executive of European Movement UK, tells Food Ingredients First that CITP’s figures show Brexit has severely damaged British exporters.

“If the government is serious about reviving the UK’s struggling economic performance, then they must face the elephant-in-the-room and deal with the damage that Brexit is wreaking every single day in every corner of our economy,” she says.

“When we left the bloc at the start of 2021, we became a ‘third country,’ meaning a huge increase in border checks and red tape for UK exporters — a situation from which we have never fully recovered. That has been a major obstacle for UK businesses, which have struggled to cope with the increased bureaucracy ever since.” 

A new 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, which UK exporters have long flagged as cumbersome and bureaucratic. 

“While both sides have negotiated agreements that lessen agri-food regulatory trade barriers, there is no precedent that clearly fits their particular circumstances. This suggests the need for legal innovation. However, finding a landing ground for an SPS agreement remains delicate. It will require both sides to define the flexibilities in their Brexit-era ‘red lines’ more clearly,” says the CITP in its findings.  

A report from Aston University concluded that a new agreement could boost agri-food exports from the UK to the EU by 22.5%.

Boosting UK-EU trade and benefits

A spokesperson for the UK government tells Food Ingredients First that it has “been clear” that a veterinary or SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides.  

“Final arrangements are subject to negotiations, but the UK and EU have similarly high standards,” they say.

In August, a group representing the UK food industry wrote to the government saying they were “deeply concerned” about issues impacting the flow of critical food ingredients and final products to and from the EU, including high costs for exporters and inadequate border controls.