The UK government has canceled plans for border controls on some fresh fruit and vegetable imports from the EU in a new deal that the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) says will ease food prices and make food trade with the UK’s biggest market cheaper while cutting bureaucracy and strengthening supply chains.

In an announcement earlier today, Defra said that checks on medium-risk fruit and vegetables (including tomatoes, grapes, plums, cherries, peaches, peppers, and more) imported from the EU will not be required.

The post-Brexit checks were due to come into force on July 1, but had been met with much criticism in recent months. 

A relief for the fresh produce industry 

The elimination of border checks on fresh produce imported from the EU is an attempt to ease trade ahead of the UK government’s new SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) agreement with the EU. Under the new deal, a UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary zone will be established. 

Biosecurity Minister Baroness Hayman says: This government’s EU deal will make food cheaper, slash bureaucracy and remove cumbersome border controls for businesses. A strengthened, forward-looking partnership with the EU will deliver for working people as part of our Plan for Change.” 

Fresh produce trade association, Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), and the National Farmers unio welcome today’s decision. 

The border checks and other UK border control changes have been causing concern among food producers for many years.

Post-Brexit chaos

The FPC has long campaigned for urgent government action over post-Brexit border chaos, describing the system as “chaotic and incoherent.” Chief executive Nigel Jenney had warned that the consequences of inaction would hit British consumers the hardest and the financial burden of poorly implemented border policies would not stay within the supply chain.

Reacting to today’s announcement, Jenney says, “This is a unique and sector-specific exemption and one we’ve fought long and hard to achieve. We’re proud to have secured a common-sense solution that protects our diverse and critical industry from supermarket supply chains to the thousands of SMEs in wholesale and foodservice.”

While fresh fruit and vegetables have been granted relief, other sectors – including meat, dairy, fish, plants, and flowers – remain subject to full border checks.

FPC is now calling on the Government to deploy a raft of measures to improve the situation in other sectors.

“The Government must ensure that policy resets don’t penalize imports from the rest of the world.” 

Meanwhile, Defra stresses that protecting UK biosecurity remains a key government priority, and risk-based surveillance will continue to manage the biosecurity risks. 

The agency will continue to work with the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Control Post operators to maintain UK biosecurity while minimizing disruption to the flow of goods.