UK and EU agree draft deal to scrap Brexit red tape on food exports

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed a draft deal to remove post-Brexit checks on food and agricultural exports, ahead of the UK-EU summit due later this month.

According to the BBC, the 200-page draft text of the so-called SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) agreement has been circulated to EU nations in Brussels for consideration at a meeting on Wednesday.

Draft texts for deals on emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have been circulated alongside it, together with a 15-page draft joint statement for the UK and EU's top leaders.

The food deal is the most significant part of the so-called Brexit reset agreed so far, removing checks and red tape that hit exporters after the UK left the EU's single market.

Under the deal, there would no longer be a need for GBP 200 Export Health Certificates, GBP 25 phytosanitary certificates, inspector fees, organic certificates, some port fees, sampling fees and other checks on exports to and imports from the EU.

It would also allow UK exports to the EU of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes to resume.

The government claims the agreement will eventually bring the UK economy GBP 5.1 billion worth of annual benefits. It will also allow passports for UK pets to be taken into the EU, while the UK will commit to observing and adapting to existing EU regulations on plant, animal and food trade standards — a process known as dynamic alignment.

The government has already announced a European Partnerships Bill, which will provide a legal mechanism for applying new EU rules and regulations. It will also allow the linking of the UK emissions trading scheme with the EU's, saving UK exporters from having to pay the EU's new carbon border tax.

The draft agreements will be discussed at a meeting of EU ambassadors, known as Coreper, on Wednesday, with some key details, such as the planned numbers in a Youth Experience Scheme, to be finalised at political level in the coming days. A discount on full foreign student fees for EU students is likely to be pushed to next year, alongside a plan to reconnect electricity markets.

The BBC understands the draft agreements will also include references to UK involvement in defence cooperation schemes, access to law enforcement databases and some reassurances over the EU's Made in Europe plans.

A food deal will have particular significance for Northern Ireland, radically reducing the impact of the post-Brexit Irish Sea border. Northern Ireland's Brexit deal kept it inside the EU's single market for goods, which means food products from elsewhere in the UK require paperwork and some physical checks when arriving at its ports. A deal will ultimately end those requirements.

While the food trade plans have been backed by supermarket and farmers' representatives, some pro-Brexit campaigners have criticised the reapplication of EU rules. The post-Brexit trade deal signed by Boris Johnson's government prioritised regulatory freedoms for the UK over avoiding new regulatory red tape, checks and delays.

However, William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), told the BBC's Today programme that business overall thought following common rules was a price worth paying, as companies would benefit from lower costs, reduced delays and increased market access.

He said the requirement for Export Health Certificates can currently add thousands of pounds of costs to each truck carrying goods, in addition to delays at ports or borders, and that exports have fallen because of the delays and the massive increases in costs.