The British Meat Processors Association strongly welcomes the work done by Government to deliver the kind of seamless access to Britain’s biggest, wealthiest and most strategically important export market. And it has achieved this through careful and detailed consultation with industry to fully understand the technical complexities involved in the just-in-time trade in fresh meat. This government has managed to achieve what the previous government promised us originally but didn’t deliver.

The joint declaration, whilst in the early stages, promises to bring back all the trade that simply ceased after Brexit due to crippling red tape and tens of millions of extra costs.

A common misunderstanding is that an SPS agreement will mean Britain becomes a ‘rule taker’. In reality, we must comply with the rules of any of our trading partners if we want to export to them – just like America must comply with British rules if they want to send us their products. This means we have been aligned with EU rules and standards all along. The difference this new deal will make is that Britain, unlike their other third country trading partners, will benefit from true, un-fettered access to their market and massively reduced trade friction. It will boost trade and make us more competitive.

Under the existing arrangement we have had to produce a mountain of paperwork to prove we comply, costing business a fortune but with NO ADDED VALUE. This extra cost had to be absorbed somewhere in the supply chain, either through lower margins or higher prices, driving food price inflation and rendering UK businesses less competitive.

We await the detail of the new EU deal, but the early signs are that it is a pragmatic agreement that will be good for British businesses and consumers alike.