The UK imports four million tonnes of fresh produce from outside of the EU each year, equivalent to 50 billion adult portions. Britain uses a “risk-based” approach to inspection.
It generally exempts fresh produce from routine inspections unless it is specifically listed for checks. Under the EU system, the FPC says, the starting point is usually to inspect every consignment unless a reduced rate of inspection applies.
The FPC estimates, under these new rules, British inspections of fresh product imports could rise from 5,000 a year to more than 100,000. According to FPC data, “implementing dynamic alignment without any exemptions is going to impose over £300million in entirely avoidable annual costs onto the fresh produce sector”.
Mr Jenney explained: “Since Brexit, the UK has removed significant border costs and delays by carrying out no or very few official inspections. The UK Government made this decision based on its own assessment of biosecurity risk. However, if we adopt the EU’s inspection approach, checks will increase substantially for goods bought from countries outside the EU. The UK imports 65 per cent of its fresh produce, with 54 per cent coming from non-EU countries. At present, most imports face no inspections or only a low level of checks. Under the EU approach, inspections can sometimes apply up to 100 per cent of all consignments. This would be a major change, adding significant costs for the industry and UK consumers.”