UK-EU Draft Deal Axes Food Export Checks, Eyes USD6.9B Gain
A national broadcaster reported that the 200-page draft of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement has gone to EU member states in Brussels, where it is up for discussion at a Wednesday meeting.
Drafts of two further agreements, one on emissions trading and one on a youth travel and work scheme, have also been circulated. They come with a 15-page draft joint statement intended for UK and EU leaders.
The SPS pact is billed as the most consequential element of the Brexit reset to date. It is designed to scrap a series of checks and charges that exporters have faced since Britain left the EU single market.
Among the costs the deal would remove are £200 (nearly $270) export health certificates and £25 phytosanitary certificates. Inspector fees, organic certificates, certain port charges and sampling fees would also go, along with other checks on UK-EU trade in goods.
The agreement would also clear the way for UK exports of fresh sausages, burgers, shellfish from domestic waters and seed potatoes to resume.
The UK government projects the deal could eventually generate £5.1 billion in annual economic benefits.
The package forms part of a broader push to repair relations between London and Brussels after Brexit.
Addressing the politics of closer EU ties, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently said that “public opinion has changed nationally” since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
He cautioned, however, that he would “not run ahead of public opinion” on the matter. “The public need to be the boss when it comes to whatever happens with Brexit,” he added.
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