EU members states are to assess an outline of a potential agreement between the bloc and the UK over agri-food exports.
After talks with the UK, Brussels has put together a document that will be circulated among EU nations at a meeting tomorrow (4 November).
According to the BBC, the two sides have agreed a draft deal on removing checks on agri-food exports that were introduced after the UK left the EU.
A summit between the UK and the EU is due to be held on 20 November. A range of issues are set to be discussed at the meeting, including a so-called sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that would cover agri-food exports.
Post-Brexit trading costs have weighed on UK food exports to the EU. In 2025, UK food export volumes to the EU were around 31% lower than in 2019, according to data from industry association The Food and Drink Federation.
Separate figures from the National Farmers’ Union show UK food sales to the EU have dropped by a third since 2019.
If an SPS deal is reached, it is expected a range of checks introduced since Brexit will be removed, including Export Health Certificates costing up to £200 ($268.33) for agri-food goods, Phytosanitary Certificates costing approximately £25, alongside inspection fees of at least £127.60.
The FDF declined to comment. However, Rod Addy, the director general of meat, dairy and fishery industries body The Provision Trade Federation, said a deal would “dramatically reduce export and import border checks and related costs with our nearest and largest trading partner”.
He added: “It’s the best news the food industry has had in the past ten years and will be a most welcome ray of light for a sector beset by a string of regulatory and inflationary costs.
“The agreement will not, of course, address all trading issues. The UK remains outside the EU Common Market and Customs Union, which means it still faces customs paperwork, inspections and charges and it will have less influence than it did before on EU policy and legislation, while having to conform to it. And there will be similar teething problems to those seen when the UK left the EU in shifting to the newly agreed trading processes.”
