UK, EU agree draft deal to remove post-Brexit food export checks: Report

The UK and European Union have agreed on a draft deal aimed at removing post-Brexit checks and red tape on food and agricultural exports, ahead of a planned summit later this month. The BBC reported that the 200-page draft text of the proposed sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement has been circulated to EU member states in Brussels for consideration at a meeting Wednesday. Draft agreements covering emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have also been circulated, alongside a 15-page draft joint statement for UK and EU leaders.

The SPS agreement, described as the most significant part of the Brexit reset so far, is expected to remove several checks and fees imposed on exporters following the UK’s departure from the EU single market. The proposed deal would eliminate the need for £200 (nearly $270) export health certificates, £25 phytosanitary certificates, inspector fees, organic certificates, certain port charges, sampling fees and other checks on goods traded between the UK and EU.

It would also allow UK exports of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes to resume. The UK government estimates that the agreement could eventually deliver £5.1 billion in annual economic benefits. The proposed agreements form part of efforts to reset relations between London and Brussels following Brexit. On the political implications of closer ties with the EU, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently said that “public opinion has changed nationally” since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

However, he stressed that he would “not run ahead of public opinion” on the issue. “The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit,” he added.