Britain and Brussels draft plan to axe post-Brexit food checks

Britain and the EU have drawn up a draft agreement to strip post-Brexit checks off food and agriculture exports, according to the BBC. The 200-page text for the so-called SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) deal has been sent to EU nations in Brussels for a Wednesday meeting. It lands ahead of a UK-EU summit later this month.

The paperwork on the chopping block is hefty: £200 Export Health Certificates, £25 Phytosanitary certificates, inspector fees, organic certificates, some port fees and sampling fees all go. The government claims the UK economy will eventually pocket £5.1bn a year in benefits. British exports of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes would be allowed back in, and UK pets would get passports for trips into the EU.

The catch is alignment. Britain would commit to observing and adapting to existing EU rules on plant, animal and food trade standards, a process called dynamic alignment. England has diverged in some spots, including precision breeding of plants, formerly gene editing, though transition arrangements have been struck as new EU regulations kick in. A European Partnerships Bill would give the government a legal mechanism to apply fresh EU rules.

Alongside the food text, drafts on emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have also been circulated, plus a 15-page joint statement for top leaders. Linking the UK emissions trading scheme to the EU's would spare UK exporters the bloc's new carbon border tax. The BBC understands the drafts touch on defence cooperation, access to law enforcement databases and reassurances over the EU's Made in Europe plans, while a discount on full foreign student fees for EU students and plans to reconnect electricity markets look likely to slip to next year.

Supermarkets and farmers' representatives have backed the food plans, but pro-Brexit campaigners are unhappy about EU rules being reapplied. Boris Johnson's post-Brexit trade deal prioritised regulatory freedom over dodging new red tape, checks and delays. EU ambassadors at Coreper will discuss the drafts on Wednesday, with key numbers for the Youth Experience Scheme to be settled politically in the coming days.

Fresh analysis from the British Chamber of Commerce on Monday said the current trade relationship is failing to deliver, leaving firms struggling with a thicket of Brexit red tape nearly six years after exit. The lobby group floated nine options for a closer relationship, including a customs union, a Swiss-style single market arrangement and a Canada-model associate membership, and urged the government to publish its own analysis. In its survey, 56% of exporting businesses said they wanted EU customs paperwork and delays removed, rising to 58% among manufacturers. Director general Shevaun Havilland said the prime minister deserves credit for starting the conversation, adding that government must examine all options and stay clear-headed about the trade-offs.