IN Brief:
- The FSA is considering early GB access to regulated products that already hold EU market authorisations.
- Dynamic alignment would generally replace existing GB authorisations with the EU framework when an SPS agreement takes effect.
- Around 390 applications remain in the FSA/FSS service, with nearly half concerning products already approved in the EU.
The Food Standards Agency is considering whether businesses in Great Britain should receive early access to regulated food and feed products already authorised in the European Union, as part of preparations for a future UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.
The proposal appears in the FSA’s September programme update and is intended to reduce disruption if dynamic alignment becomes part of the final SPS arrangement. Under current law, regulated products can only be placed on the GB market where they hold the required domestic authorisation following safety assessment and ministerial approval.
Dynamic alignment would change that position. The FSA says that, from the date an agreement enters into force, existing GB market authorisations would generally cease to apply and businesses would require an EU authorisation to place regulated products on the market in Great Britain, subject to any limited exceptions agreed.
That creates an awkward transition for ingredients, additives, and food-contact materials. A product can be authorised in the EU but unavailable in GB, while another may hold a GB authorisation under conditions that differ from the European approval. Businesses making formulation and packaging decisions before the final agreement therefore face the risk of designing around a regulatory position that later changes.
Industry has asked for early access to EU-authorised products so that those changes can begin before an SPS agreement takes effect. The FSA says such a measure could allow businesses to reformulate products, switch packaging, and spread implementation work over a longer period instead of concentrating it around a single changeover date.
The proposal would require legislation. EU authorisation alone does not currently make a regulated product lawful in Great Britain, even though the FSA notes that the European safety process is similar to the GB system and those products can already be sold in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework.
Food-contact materials illustrate the production implications. Packaging specifications are tied to sealing behaviour, barrier performance, migration limits, process temperature, shelf life, and supplier qualification. A change in the permitted substance base or recycled-plastics framework can therefore trigger converter discussions, line trials, migration work, and revised technical documentation.
Ingredients create a similar chain of work. Food additives, novel foods, and feed materials may sit inside multiple recipes or supplier systems, so a regulatory change can lead to reformulation, sensory trials, labelling updates, nutritional review, and fresh procurement approvals across many stock-keeping units.
The existing authorisation backlog adds pressure to the decision. Around 390 applications remain in the joint FSA and Food Standards Scotland Market Authorisation Service, and the agency says an application currently takes more than two years on average to reach authorisation.
Nearly half of those applications relate to products already approved in the EU. The overlap raises an obvious question about how much domestic assessment resource should continue to be committed to cases that could ultimately fall under the European authorisation framework once alignment begins.
Since January 2026, the service has completed 53 applications. Five full novel-food applications have reached ministerial authorisation, including four precision-fermentation applications, alongside one traditional novel-food notification and one food-additive application.
Other applications remain in active risk management. The FSA is currently progressing its first CBD novel-food authorisations towards ministerial decisions, an example of the domestic system continuing to move while the future relationship with the EU remains unsettled.
That overlap can complicate investment decisions. Applicants may have spent years generating safety evidence and progressing through the GB process, while the commercial value of completing that route depends partly on how long the resulting domestic authorisation remains relevant before an SPS agreement comes into force.
The FSA has written more than 600 tailored letters to market-authorisation applicants, GB authorisation holders, and trade associations explaining the potential consequences. It has also run applicant sessions and engaged with local authorities and port health authorities as wider implementation planning continues.
Businesses have also asked for adequate transition periods, phased implementation, and sell-through arrangements. Those requests extend beyond market authorisations because an SPS agreement could alter documentation, border processes, health and identification marks, and other requirements affecting food trade.
The agency is currently preparing for possible implementation in summer 2027 while acknowledging that negotiations remain unfinished and the timetable can still change. It plans to review prioritisation in the Market Authorisation Service rapidly once the final agreement is reached.
Early access would not settle every regulatory question, but it could remove one sequencing problem. Manufacturers able to qualify EU-authorised ingredients and packaging materials before the formal changeover would have more time to complete trials, update specifications, and manage old stock through normal commercial cycles.
The September paper asks the FSA Board to consider whether ministers should be advised to enable that route where possible. The decision will determine whether part of the regulatory transition begins ahead of the SPS agreement or whether manufacturers face a more compressed programme of reformulation, packaging qualification, and compliance work once the final rules are known.
