Shoppers in NZ Face More Artisan Food Options Post-Brexit, But No Price Drop Expected

Consumers are expected to witness a rise in the diversity of foods Available from the mainland — spanning everything from cheeses and salamis to oysters and eggs — because of Britain’s Brexit “reset” with the EU.

However, they probably won’t gain much from significantly lower costs. grocery bills , according to statements from industry professionals and retail representatives.

The government proposed eliminating expensive and complicated safety inspections for most products crossing the English Channel, which were introduced due to Brexit. They portrayed this change, among others, as a significant victory resulting from the agreement reached with Brussels on Monday. prospect of cheaper food .

The proposal for common regulations regarding food and plant safety – which forms part of what’s known as a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement or vet agreement – aims to enable numerous types of "moderately risky" products presently requiring copious documentation, along with veterinary clearance, to move freely across borders from Britain into the EU without needing these approvals and inspections.

Industry sources told The i Paper This development enables countless smaller and medium-sized manufacturers in both the UK and mainland Europe—who previously abandoned cross-Channel trade because of the expenses and intricacies involved in administrative processes—to restart their export activities.

Several industry insiders mentioned that cutting through bureaucratic obstacles could yield substantial advantages following multiple instances where suppliers faced rejection of shipments at borders or experienced spoilage due to holdups or incorrect documentation.

The i Paper was informed about a recent event involving a British poultry company that was forced to discard four truckloads of meat valued at £100,000 due to a typing error with a single digit on an official form.

Brexit friction ‘will go’

According to figures produced by the Food and Drink Federation, the volume of foodstuffs being exported from the UK to the continent has fallen by 34 per cent since 2019.

The complexity of adhering to the post-Brexit trade regulations set forth by the UK has been quite intricate. fully implemented last April under a system known as the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), that some haulage companies have started employing their own vets to provide the necessary certification for animal products, with one firm paying £12,000 a month for the service to keep meat supplies moving.

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As a result, certain handcrafted goods, including Italian salamis and Spanish wild-game pâtés alongside Cotswold cheeses and small-scale Welsh lamb, are scheduled to be reintroduced for sale both in Britain and the European Union.

A representative from a United Kingdom-based specialized food import-export firm commented, "Should this fresh SPS agreement materialize as outlined, many obstacles imposed by Brexit could potentially dissipate. The current regulatory framework has been an enormous hassle; numerous businesses opted out due to the complexity involved with trading between the UK and elsewhere. Consequently, I anticipate witnessing greater diversity and volume of products moving both into and out of Europe."

Sir Keir Starmer stated on Monday that the updated import system would lead to lower food prices, and combined with an independent agreement on emissions trading, this would amount to a £9 billion boost for the UK economy.

However, some experts and business owners dismissed the idea of declining growth. food bills is suggesting that the savings generated from eliminating costs like veterinary certification fees—which are presently projected to amount to £400 million annually for British businesses—would be balanced out by ongoing charges such as customs procedures along with extra expenditures due to hikes in national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

Food costs not expected to shift

Phil Pluck, CEO of the Cold Chain Federation—which includes around 450 refrigerated storage facilities and 40,000 trucks transporting food across continents—stated: "While this agreement suggests an increase in food diversity and options, it doesn’t necessarily mean reduced expenses."

I'd be amazed if UK shoppers experienced higher food prices, yet I’d equally be astonished if they noticed a substantial decrease. Given all the unexpected and extra expenses that came with Brexit, I doubt we'll witness more than minor reductions in cost.

Retailers depending significantly on imports from Europe mentioned they faced substantial administrative expenses, which included mandatory charges for a specialized inspection process at designated facilities. Border Control Posts (BCPs), including a multimillion-pound site in Sevington, Kent. Sources within the industry stated that merely a small portion of shipments due for examination were actually being inspected at these BCPs.

Kate Shirley Quirk, who owns Delicioso – an Oxfordshire-based deli business focusing on Spanish goods – mentioned that she has ceased carrying certain items like a selection of wild-game pâtés due to the supplier’s inability to secure a necessary veterinary certification.

However, even when the necessary documentation can be acquired, additional issues emerge when small food shipments cross the Channel. Supermarkets can bring in full truckloads of goods at one reasonable charge; yet, smaller suppliers have to cover a comparable cost despite dealing in significantly lesser quantities.

Ms Shirley Quirk explained that when customers place small orders for a perishable meat item from Delicioso, they face a £70 surcharge for animal health checks followed by an additional £80 fee for inspections that are seldom implemented.

Read Next: New Brexit agreement aims to reduce grocery store costs... though not anytime soon.

She stated: "A veterinary agreement would be welcomed, however, without those additional expenses being removed too, the anticipated decrease in product prices within our grocery baskets might end up being rather small."

Several specialists highlighted insufficient specifics in the pact introduced on Monday by Starmer and European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — particularly regarding which types of products will avoid food inspections and what regulations, like customs procedures, will still apply — as grounds for concern. Sources suggest that both Britain and the EU aim to establish their updated sanitary and phytosanitary accord within one year.

Marco Forgione, the director-general of the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade, stated: "This deal’s main points are quite encouraging — post-Brexit, the checks at our borders have led to a significant drop in trade. However, we must await further details about its implementation as it's essential to grasp how these processes could be modified and streamlined to lessen such hindrances. For now, that celebrated English bubbly will remain chilled."

Poland spots chance to boost meat imports

The imposition of post-Brexit food controls has already begun to reshape some aspects of trade. While there has been a decline in UK exports to the EU, some European countries have spotted an opportunity to increase imports into Britain.

Poland, already the biggest poultry producer in Europe and the fourth-largest supplier of pork, now exports over £1 billion worth of meat to the UK — a figure that has increased by almost 10% since 2023.

Agnieszka Kisielewska, a Warsaw-based international trade and tax attorney, commented, "Despite the challenges at the borders, this trading activity has grown and might expand even more with an SPS agreement in place. Harmonizing SPS regulations between the UK and the EU could help mitigate some of the issues brought about by BTOM."

Truckers expressed hope that a fresh agreement would enable inspection agencies to focus on tackling significant amounts of illicit meat entering the UK, which carries a substantial risk of transmitting diseases like swine fever. It emerged in February that over 100 tons of unapproved meat, largely originating from Eastern Europe, were confiscated at the Port of Dover within the past year.

Pluck stated: "Should the resources allocated for Brexit inspections be redirected towards preventing substantial amounts of substandard meat from entering the UK, this shift could prove highly beneficial. However, the execution demonstrated a prime example of handling such matters extremely poorly."

What we should avoid doing now is generating new issues by hastily eliminating the current ones. We ought to allocate some time to ensure we handle this correctly.