The Food Standards Agency has vowed to end the huge uncertainty facing food companies over the impact of SPS dynamic alignment after a crucial summit between UK and EU leaders was called for 22 July.
The date for the summit was announced on Tuesday after prime minister Keir Starmer met with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the G7 Summit in Evian.
The food safety watchdog has been holding a series of workshops with the food sector to try to prepare for the outcome of the negotiations, but admitted there was major uncertainty across the supply chain – whilst it too has received no guarantees of long-term funding from government to oversee the process.
“The strong messages we’ve heard from that engagement is to share as much information as we can, as early as we can,” FSA CEO Katie Pettifer told its board meeting yesterday. “Now the summit has been called we expect more details to become public.”
The FSA has pledged to give “as much practical support as it can to companies” although it is still negotiating with the government for funding to support its work to implement the huge overhaul.
Pettifer added one of the main calls from industry was to try to ensure products already authorised in the EU were fast-tracked for authorisation in the UK as soon as the deal is finalised.
“We are taking that thought away and thinking if there is anything we can do to support early alignment,” she added.
It comes as The Treasury has now approved financial support of £4.7m, which the agency said would be used across policy, science, and operational delivery for the programme. The Grocer reported in March that the regulator was facing a ‘funding gap’ for its work to implement the SPS deal ahead of its expected mid-2027 rollout date.
But a report to the meeting said: “While this specific business case was approved, discussions regarding the long-term funding needed for ongoing SPS implementation are still active.”
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