A UK-EU SPS deal is nearly there, but details matter

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) welcomes the progress being made towards a new EU-UK Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement. While important details, including the implementation date, are yet to be finalised, this represents a major opportunity to remove unnecessary trade barriers, rebuild exports and boost growth across the British meat industry.

John Powell, BMPA Chief Executive, said:

“There’s a fundamental misconception that leaving the EU freed British businesses from having to follow EU rules. The reality is that if we want to sell our products into our biggest and closest export market, we have to meet its standards. We already do. What Brexit changed was that we now have to prove it with a mountain of costly paperwork, certificates and checks.

“Five years on, the promised alternative markets have come nowhere near replacing the EU trade we’ve lost. A well-designed SPS agreement offers a real opportunity to reverse that damage, particularly for smaller processors who have effectively been priced out of exporting.”

BMPA is also urging negotiators to ensure that the transition to the new arrangements is practical and does not create fresh disruption for businesses.

Powell added:

“One particularly important issue is health marks and the treatment of products already labelled and held in cold storage. We cannot have a cliff-edge date when perfectly good, legally produced meat suddenly becomes unsellable because the rules have changed. There needs to be a sensible transition period that allows existing stock to be sold in the UK without creating an unnecessary administrative burden for either side.

“BMPA is working closely with Government to help shape these practical solutions, drawing on the hard lessons our industry learned when we left the EU.

“The prize for British meat processors is significant. This is an opportunity to strip out costs that add nothing to food safety, restore lost trade and make British meat businesses more competitive. We need to get the details right so the industry can realise those benefits from day one.”