Industry experts have warned that forcing UK supermarkets to label meat, dairy and plant pducts as “not for EU” will increase prices.
The agreement with the EU looks to ensure that these products do not go into the single market via Northern Ireland.
The labelling is set to be required from October and as part of the deal, ministers have said they will push further ahead than the Windsor framework requires, The Guardian reported.
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“Not for EU” labels are being extended across all agri-food products sold un the UK, instead of just on goods going into Northern Ireland from Britain “to ensure no incentive arises for businesses to avoid placing goods on the Northern Ireland market”.
However, Food and Drink Federation chief executive Karen Betts said that the process is a “very complicated and expensive way” of making sure all British products can be sold in Northern Ireland, claiming this will cost the industry £250m a year.
She added: “None of our companies operate on wide margins. So if you introduce a significant cost, in the end, at least a proportion of that will have to be passed on to the consumer.”
Concerns were also raised over whether supermarkets will be able to adhere to the timeline in which the labelling needs to be changed and a consultation is expected to be opened by the government on this today.
Waitrose is one of the supermarket’s that does not operate stores in Northern Ireland, however it will still need to adhere to the draft legislation.
It told the publication that the changes “add unnecessary costs when we are doing everything we can to keep costs down”.
