The Fresh Produce Consortium has warned that the government’s UK–EU SPS agreement could place more than £300m in additional costs on Britain’s fresh produce sector.

FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney said the deal had been presented by government as a way to reduce border friction, but argued that the reality for fresh produce importers was “fundamentally different”.

The trade body said that while checks on EU imports are being eased, new EU-style controls are set to be imposed on Rest of World supply chains that already have a 99.5 per cent compliance record.

Jenney said the policy risked transferring the burden from EU trade onto global supply chains, rather than simplifying the border process.

“This is not simplification. It is a transfer of burden. And the industry’s effective solutions and repeated warnings are being ignored,” he said.

The FPC said Rest of World supply chains account for around half of all fresh produce imported into the UK each year.

According to its analysis, up to 4m tonnes of imported goods could fall within the scope of the expanded controls.

The trade body said the new regime could mean increased inspections, additional phytosanitary certification, expanded pre-notification requirements, new reporting and compliance systems, and the risk of post-import checks and operational delays.

Jenney said the UK already operates a “proven, proportionate, science-based SPS regime”, with 99.5 per cent border compliance across around 40,000 consignments a year.

He warned that under the new approach, an estimated 120,000 consignments a year could be subject to potential physical inspection at the UK border, while a wide range of goods could face 100 per cent physical inspection by UK officials.

“The government’s own scientific authorities did not consider these EU-style controls necessary when we left the EU. Nothing has changed in the science. What has changed is the politics,” Jenney said.

The FPC said fresh produce was particularly exposed to border delays because of the short shelf life of products such as citrus, mangoes, blueberries, sweet potatoes and peppers.

Jenney warned that a border regime which might be manageable for ambient goods could become a serious commercial and food safety risk when applied to perishable produce.

“Delays are not theoretical. They threaten quality, availability and affordability on British shelves,” he said.

The FPC said the additional cost burden of more than £300m would include official government fees, certification costs, logistics costs, spoilage losses and operational investment.

It warned those costs would move through the supply chain and ultimately reach UK shoppers.

Jenney said the UK could not “grow its way out” of food security challenges, adding that domestic production and global imports needed to work together.

“Current policy risks undermining that balance rather than strengthening it,” he said.

The FPC said it had repeatedly put forward evidence-based alternatives that would improve UK–EU trade flows without compromising Rest of World supply chains, but said those proposals appeared to have been set aside.

“We must secure a win-win for EU and Rest of World trade on behalf of hard-pressed consumers,” Jenney said.

“A policy that eases EU trade by transferring burden onto global supply chains is not simplification. It is substitution. One the UK food system cannot afford.”

The FPC is now urging fresh produce businesses to write to the Prime Minister and copy in their local MPs, setting out the commercial and consumer impact of the proposed changes.

Jenney said the industry needed to speak with a “unified voice” while there was still time to influence the outcome.

“The window to influence this outcome is open, but it will not stay open for long,” he said.

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