UK and EU Agree New Food Exports Deal to End Post-Brexit Sausage Wars
The UK and EU have published the first details of a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that will eliminate paperwork and physical checks on most food exports from summer 2027. The deal covers dairy, fish, cheese, eggs and fresh red meat for both British exporters to the EU and EU exporters to the UK. The government said it expects the agreement to add up to £5.1bn a year to the economy and slash red tape for farmers and producers.
The UK and EU have published the first details of a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement that will eliminate paperwork and physical checks on most food exports from summer 2027, effectively ending the post-Brexit “sausage wars.”
The deal covers dairy, fish, cheese, eggs and fresh red meat for both British exporters to the EU and EU exporters to the UK. Exporters of meat — whether fresh, frozen or processed — will no longer require veterinary certificates to prove they meet EU standards, nor will they need similar documentation for plants or wood packaging material. Businesses selling into Northern Ireland from Great Britain will no longer require health labels.
The UK government expects the agreement to add up to £5.1bn a year to the economy, support jobs and slash red tape for farmers and producers. Biosecurity minister Sue Hayman said the deal was “great news for British food and drink businesses of all sizes,” including an estimated 16,000 companies that stopped exporting to the EU after Brexit because of excessive bureaucracy. She added: “By cutting unnecessary delays and paperwork at the border, the agreement will make it easier for businesses to sell our world-class produce to European customers, support jobs and help ease pressure on food prices for families.”
Health certificates, which could cost up to £200 for each consignment, were not required before the UK left the EU in 2020 but had since contributed to paperwork “hell,” according to food producers and transport firms. Toby Ovens, managing director of Broughton Transport Solutions, told a parliamentary committee in January that his company now needed 26 sheets of paperwork instead of one before Brexit to prove to French authorities in Calais that the beef he was transporting met EU standards. He said lorries carrying frozen beef could be detained for up to a month if a single document was incorrect.
While the UK did not implement checks fully on the British side of the border on the assumption that EU food was of certifiable standards, the EU has enforced paperwork checks on 100% of imports from Britain and physical checks on 30% of imports. Ben Fletcher, chief executive of Logistics UK, called the agreement a “common sense solution” to the “significant amounts of time and money” the industry has had to put in to move fresh food across the UK’s borders.
Negotiations over the deal have been under way since the end of 2024 and are expected to conclude in time for the next EU-UK summit pencilled in for 13 July 2026. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published guidance to help producers prepare for the changes. Lady Hayman said: “We are working hand in hand with food and farming businesses up and down the country to make the most of this opportunity and want every British producer — whether they currently trade with the EU or not — to be ready to seize the benefits this deal will unlock.”