UK-EU draft deal would scrap post-Brexit food export red tape

The 200-page draft text would scrap the £200 Export Health Certificates and £25 plant health certificates that have governed UK food exports to the EU since Brexit, the BBC reports, with the document now circulating to EU nations in Brussels for consideration at a meeting on Wednesday.

The deal, known as the SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) agreement, could also "scrap some inspection fees, organic certificates and port charges," and would let exporters of "fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from UK waters and seed potatoes" sell to the EU again.

The price is dynamic alignment. "Under the agreement the UK will commit to observing and adapting to existing EU regulations on plant, animal and food trade standards," the reporting says. The government claims the UK economy will eventually see £5.1bn worth of annual benefits; the retrieved reporting does not publish the methodology behind that figure.

Supermarkets and farmers' representatives have backed the plans. Some pro-Brexit campaigners have criticised the reapplication of EU rules. The deal would also significantly ease the Irish Sea border, since Northern Ireland remains in the EU's single market for goods and food from the rest of the UK currently faces paperwork and some physical checks at its ports.

The draft agreements also reference UK involvement in defence cooperation schemes, access to law enforcement databases, and reassurances on the EU's "Made in Europe" plans.