IN Brief:
- FDF has published ten priorities as SPS negotiations progress.
- Manufacturers want early guidance, long transition periods, and a UK voice in EU rulemaking.
- Import processes, pesticides, and Northern Ireland labelling are highlighted as pressure points.
The Food and Drink Federation has published a set of ten priorities for government as negotiations continue on a new UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement, positioning the deal as a potential route to reduce the certification and border friction that has affected trade since the UK left the EU’s food safety framework.
FDF says UK food and drink exports to the EU have fallen 23.4% over the last five years compared with the five years before Brexit, and argues that an SPS agreement could remove costs linked to additional paperwork and checks when supplying the UK’s closest and largest regional market. The federation’s priorities focus less on the political headline and more on execution — specifically, what falls in scope, how divergence will be handled, and how long businesses will have to adapt.
Karen Betts, Chief Executive of FDF, said: “Europe is our biggest trading partner for food and drink, so getting the detail of the SPS agreement right couldn’t be more important. First and foremost, businesses need to know what to do by when, and how long will they have to comply. Early clarity on regulatory changes, allowing sufficient transition periods, and ensuring our voice is heard for decisions that will impact UK businesses in the future are non-negotiable to protect the competitiveness and long-term resilience of our sector.”
The agreement under discussion is expected to require alignment across a wide range of food safety and animal and plant health rules, raising questions about how the UK will respond where it has already chosen different approaches. FDF has pointed to pesticides as a live example, citing analysis that modelling an immediate alignment scenario could create significant losses for UK crop production, with knock-on implications for ingredient supply, pricing, and availability.
FDF’s ten priorities include early, transparent communication on where UK and EU rules have diverged and what will be covered by the agreement, and a parallel communications push aimed at global suppliers. The federation notes that the UK introduced a revised approach to global imports in 2024, and argues that returning to an EU-aligned approach needs managed notice to avoid disruption for overseas ingredient and raw material suppliers.
Other priorities include aligning authorisation frameworks where the EU has moved faster, such as approval pathways for new food ingredients, and ensuring the UK has a structured voice in EU decisions that will shape future requirements under any dynamic alignment model. FDF is also calling for sufficient transition or exemption periods for long shelf-life products manufactured ahead of rule changes, and for clearly defined carve-outs where the UK intends to retain national control to protect specific industries.
Parliamentary scrutiny has also started to focus on implementation risk. A recent House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee report noted that government has described an ambition to complete negotiations by early 2027, with implementation in the first half of that year, and recommended an implementation period of at least 24 months for affected sectors to make necessary adjustments. The committee also recorded evidence that FDF expects implementation to take at least 24 months once sell-through and shelf-life dynamics are accounted for.
FDF’s remaining priorities address contingency planning for supply chain shocks, the removal of “Not for EU” labelling on goods moved into Northern Ireland, ongoing monitoring of EU policy development, and practical support to help businesses regain export momentum once the new trading framework is operational.
