UK and EU agree draft food trade deal — BBC News
The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a draft deal that is intended to remove a significant portion of checks and bureaucratic procedures for trade in food and agricultural goods after Brexit. As BBC News reports, the approximately 200-page text of the sanitary and phytosanitary agreement was circulated among EU countries in Brussels ahead of discussion at a meeting of EU ambassadors.
Which checks may be abolished
The draft arrangements are intended to eliminate the need for £200 export health certificates, £25 phytosanitary certificates, payments for inspectors, certificates for organic products, part of port charges, sampling costs and other checks during exports and imports between the United Kingdom and the EU.
Exports from the United Kingdom to the EU of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from UK waters and seed potatoes are also expected to resume. The agreement is also intended to allow pets from the United Kingdom to enter the EU using pet passports.
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Alignment of standards
In exchange for simplified trade, the British side will undertake to comply with and adapt to current EU rules on trade standards for plants, animals and food products. This mechanism is called dynamic alignment. The UK government says the agreement will ultimately provide the country's economy with an annual benefit of £5.1 billion.
The agreement will be of particular importance for Northern Ireland. Currently, food products from other parts of the United Kingdom require documents and may undergo physical checks at the region's ports, as Northern Ireland has remained in the EU single market for goods. The arrangement is expected to eventually end these requirements.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, told the BBC that following common rules is an acceptable price for lower costs, fewer delays and broader market access. According to him, the requirement for export health certificates can add thousands of pounds in costs to each truck, while border delays reduce export volumes.
