The government should end the need for veterinary certification on imports and exports of products of animal origin between the UK and EU “with immediate effect”, the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers has urged.
Given the government’s ‘EU reset’ and the yet to be implemented Sanitary & Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement within it, signed in May, ministers should now press ahead and abandon the existing, “outdated”, border framework, said Jason Aldiss, executive director at AIMS.
In a letter sent to Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds this week, Aldiss said “one of the most immediate and deliverable ways to realise this vision [of a reset]”, would be in “addressing the burden of SPS certification”.
This was “little more than a legacy from the pre-digital age that resulted in an outdated system, which in turn imposes significant cost and friction, with negligible public health value”, he argued, with the system hampering the meat sector with “tens of millions of pounds in avoidable costs”.
“The UK has the sovereign ability to remove these requirements unilaterally for EU imports and should urgently pursue mutual recognition for exports through bilateral negotiations,” Aldiss added in the letter.
“We have written to the minister on behalf of our many exporting members laying out the very real benefits that demonstrate how meaningful trade liberalisation can be achieved without compromising food safety or animal health,” he saidin an accompanying statement.
Such a move would help to streamline supply chains, particularly for perishable and composite goods, while releasing significant veterinary capacity back into priority sectors and also empowering SMEs to access new markets, “without facing prohibitive bureaucratic hurdles, thereby contributing to the UK’s economic growth agenda”, he suggested.
Ending veterinary certification would also unlock export volumes currently constrained by administrative costs and complexity, demonstrate to global investors that the UK is “committed to smart, proportionate regulation”, and strengthen UK–EU diplomatic and technical cooperation, signalling goodwill and intent.
AIMS was “confident the EU would welcome reciprocal simplification”, Aldiss claimed. “The UK is, as one Brussels stakeholder described it, ‘pushing against an open door’.”
The industry body stood ready “to support the delivery of this policy” and was already piloting blockchain-based digital certification systems, such as Vetasure, that can support real-time risk-based assurance and audit,” he said. “The tools exist. The industry is ready and the moment to act is now.”
AIMS’ comments come two months after prime minister Keir Starmer agreed a deal with the EU to reduce SPS checks for UK exports to the EU, as part of a wider agreement that would also give European fishing boats access to UK waters.
The ‘Brexit reset’ and its SPS agreement would ultimately “make it easier for food and drink to be imported and exported by reducing the red tape that placed burdens on businesses and led to lengthy lorry queues at the border” the government said in May.
However, uncertainty continues over the timescale of when it will be introduced – despite the government scrapping planned border checks on EU fruit & veg imports at the start of June – with the situation likely exacerbated by this week’s dissolution of parliament.
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