Fewer options and increased costs? Britain prepares for Brexit regulations on imported food.
Beginning Tuesday, post-Brexit physical inspections of imported plants and animals from the EU will commence. These spot checks will initially apply to products like meat, cheese, and certain fish, potentially expanding to a variety of vegetables and fruit.
Accompanying these checks will be new fees for some imported food products, potentially reducing consumer choice and increasing prices after UK food inflation dropped from double-digit rates. This coincides with warnings of higher costs for bread and beer due to the effects of unprecedented rainfall on British grain harvests.
Post-Brexit, the UK's food supply has become more susceptible to external disruptions, while labor shortages have caused some local farmers to leave crops unharvested due to a lack of workers.
Prior to leaving the EU, the UK had unrestricted access to the food grown in neighboring countries. This meant exports of cheese from France, peaches from Spain, and artichokes from Italy were readily available.
Since leaving, the UK's food supply chain has become more vulnerable, with labor shortages sometimes prompting British farmers to leave crops unpicked.
UK industry groups warn that the added red tape may cost a typical business thousands of pounds per month. Additionally, border delays will reduce the shelf-life of perishable products and increase food waste.
Eddie Price, the director of Birmingham Wholesale Market, which houses roughly 50 businesses selling meat, vegetables, fish, and flowers, says traders are concerned about rising costs and delays at the border.
"The concerns are that (the food) is probably going to get held up at the point of entry for a couple of days and potentially reduce the value of the product and make it less available," Price told CNN. "There is a real concern, particularly among the larger importers, that it could add several percentage points to their costs."
The UK government maintains that these new controls are necessary for biosecurity and that the checks will be phased in cautiously, with an emphasis on the "highest-risk goods," which include live animals.
However, Cold Chain Federation, a group representing businesses delivering perishable goods, estimates that these new border measures could easily add over £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in costs per year for firms trading in perishable produce. This could significantly increase food prices and reduce consumer choice.
The British Retail Consortium believes that while additional costs may result from the new checks and paperwork, "it is likely to be small relative to the £200 billion of food sales in the UK each year," meaning it is unlikely to trigger large price increases. Nevertheless, to avoid any potential delays or availability issues, the consortium warns that border checks must be implemented smoothly in April.
About half of the food consumed in the UK is imported, mostly from the EU, with the Netherlands, France, Ireland, and Germany being the biggest suppliers. Spain also plays a significant role in providing fresh produce.
UK figures indicate that in 2022, nearly 40% of fresh vegetables eaten in the country originated in the EU. Meanwhile, 53% were grown domestically and 16% were imported from elsewhere.
For fruit, domestic production accounted for only 16%, while 28% came from the EU and 56% were sourced from other countries.
The UK's heavy reliance on imported food, particularly from the EU, was highlighted in February last year when poor weather in Spain and North Africa led to shortages in Britain, forcing supermarkets to impose purchase limits on certain items, including tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
In a study published in Nature in June 2020, researchers from the University of York in England stated that Britain is "extremely reliant" on the Netherlands and Spain for the majority of its fresh vegetable imports. The long-term sustainability of this reliance after Brexit is questionable, they noted.
However, Jack Bobo, director of the Food Systems Institute at the University of Nottingham in England, opined that the UK's dependence on imports doesn't necessitate a more vulnerable food system. "There are risks both ways," he told CNN, referring to diseases or extreme weather events that could destroy local production.
He further stated, "The Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, and France – these are all major global food exporters. It's still going to be easier to ship to the UK than to any other international market."
Potential opportunity for UK farmers?
Price, manager of Birmingham Wholesale Market, believes that the new border charges could enable local providers to offer more price-competitive options as compared to their EU counterparts. "This might be a significant chance for UK farmers," he stated.
The UK already uses a larger percentage of its land for agriculture than major EU agricultural producers, according to World Bank data. Nevertheless, experts suggest that the nation has the capacity to cultivate more of its homegrown fresh products like apples, pears, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
However, Brexit hasn't been helpful in this regard either. It has brought an end to the free movement of EU workers, who have worked in the UK's farming sector for decades.
Seasonal worker visas were temporarily made available to address this issue, permitting EU citizens, as well as individuals from other countries, to work on UK farms for temporary periods. But with this program set to expire at the end of this year, many farmers fear the unknowns ahead.
"No farming enterprise knows whether they will have seasonal workers for 2025," Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), told CNN. "That means we are quickly approaching a crisis. You're not likely to invest in long-term production if you don't know about your access to labor."
Moreover, Brexit has motivated the UK government to negotiate free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, granting these countries tariff-free access to UK supermarkets. This means that Britain's supermarkets will have access to larger, more cost-efficient agricultural industries.
"Since the 2016 referendum, our political system has been in chaos. Farming has been sacrificed and used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations," said Philip Maddocks, CEO of PDM Produce, a salad farmer in the English county of Shropshire, during a recent NFU Conference.
Apart from these Brexit-induced challenges, UK farmers have been put under pressure by soaring input costs, including the costs of fertilizer, energy, and labor. Supersmarkets, which command a considerable share of the British food supply chain, are known for their reluctance to pay more to local producers, preferring to depend on importation to keep their prices low.
In December, the government initiated a review to "improve fairness" in the supply chain for fresh produce, specifically seeking to examine contractual agreements between UK producers and retailers.
"I'm not keen on subsidies; I'm more interested in fair food prices," Maddocks stated. "The government needs a strategy for food that considers the next 20 years, not just five or one, or even months, as has been the case in recent times."
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Source: edition.cnn.com
