World-Leading Border? It’s a World-Class Embarrassment, Blasts FPC

In an unflinching statement, FPC delivers a scathing indictment of the Government’s failure to act, accusing ministers of abandoning growers, wholesalers, and importers to the chaos of a collapsing border system.

With businesses haemorrhaging cash, confidence and customers, and with practical, proven solutions like the Authorised Operator Status (AOS) model scrapped without reason, the industry’s patience has run dry.

This is not a policy debate—it’s a crisis in motion.

While fruit and vegetable traders have won a temporary lifeline through relentless industry pressure, the cut flower and plant sectors are being left to wither under a regime of spiralling costs, pointless delays, and bureaucratic inertia.

Statement From the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC)

“We Can’t Trade on Promises”: Industry Demands Answers Amid Government Paralysis

The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has condemned the Government’s continuing failure to provide real answers to real questions—questions that affect the very future of the UK’s horticultural industry.

While Westminster fixates on the theoretical potential of border resets and long-term trade strategies, thousands of British businesses, particularly family-owned wholesalers, face constant and ongoing operational and financial pressures, with no clear answers or detailed solutions in sight.

The reality on the ground is clear: businesses are haemorrhaging time, money, and trust. The BTOM border system is broken, and those who built it don’t seem to care.

A Hard-Won Reprieve for Fruit & Veg

To be clear: FPC has delivered real results for real people.

After relentless lobbying, direct government engagement and sector-wide collaboration, FPC secured a targeted exemption from full SPS checks on medium-risk EU fruit and vegetable imports until 31 January 2027.

This means:

• Over 700,000 annual shipments of fruit and veg have been spared from excessive border checks

• • The industry has saved over £200 million• UK consumers have avoided another spike in food prices

This wasn’t a government favour. It was a victory wrestled from the jaws of border chaos, saving over £200 million in potential costs, protecting more than 700,000 annual consignments, and safeguarding affordable produce for businesses and consumers already squeezed by inflation.

Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive of FPC, said: “We didn’t wait for a strategy paper. We delivered a solution. This exemption gives the industry breathing space—but it’s just that: breathing space. The real work isn’t yet done. An industry-backed EU reset solution is imperative, but it cannot impose additional official controls on non-EU imports to the UK simply to ease EU border chaos.”

Cut Flowers and Plants: Ignored and Undermined

But where is the same urgency for cut flowers and plants?

These sectors—already struggling under the weight of inspection fees, port delays and deteriorating EU trade relationships—have been left to rot, with no relief in sight.

While fruit and veg have been granted sensible relief, the cut flower and plant sectors remain locked in an unworkable border regime implemented by our own Government—whilst imposing excessive official fees, chronic delays and impossible logistics.

Several European suppliers have already walked away from UK trade, citing spiralling costs and opaque systems.

This is not a theoretical problem. This is a loss of jobs, supply, and confidence—today.

Despite this, the Government has yet to offer any meaningful support, or explain why fast, proven industry-funded border solutions are being deliberately starved of official inspectors to conduct mandatory border checks, whilst AOS has been abandoned without discussion or credible reason.

AOS: A Lifeline Withdrawn, A Sector Abandoned

Now that the Government has publicly confirmed its abandonment of the Authorised Operator Status (AOS) model, industry is left devastated.

What was once a practical, cost-effective solution—developed in close collaboration with trusted businesses—has been scrapped without adequate explanation and with no serious alternative in place.

This wasn’t just a policy trial. It was a shared commitment. Businesses invested heavily—without grant support—to build the infrastructure and systems Government asked for.

And now, they’ve been left stranded!

The decision has catastrophic implications for the handling of perishable goods from EU and non-EU countries, which contribute significantly to the nation’s food security and flower supply. The current border model is entirely unsuited to the speed and care these products demand.

Without AOS, we are forcing sensitive, time-critical shipments into a rigid, poorly performing and hugely expensive Government-managed inspection monopoly.

“To pilot a scheme with industry, only to abandon it after successful trials and then declare it closed with no viable alternative—this is nothing short of betrayal,” said Jenney.

“This isn’t just disruptive. It’s devastating. And the damage will be swift and far-reaching.”

FPC is urgently calling on the Government to take immediate, compensatory action:

• Deploy out-of-hours inspectors at key Control Points to enable 24/7 clearance for flowers and plants
• Redeploy inspection staff, whose roles are now redundant due to the exemption granted for fruit and vegetables—which accounted for around 50% of APHA resource allocation

There is capacity. There is demand. There is an urgent need! But what’s missing—critically—is political will.

AOS was not just viable—it was essential.

Especially for our sector in terms of managing both EU and non-EU trade. The Government claims to champion small businesses and growth. Instead, they’ve ignored a proven solution and failed to offer any short-term alternative.

Resource Mismanagement: The Elephant in the Inspection Bay

The irony is staggering!

DEFRA has tripled its border inspection headcount, with resources scaled up for fresh produce, which no longer requires checks. Yet those same inspectors are not being redeployed to support cut flower and plant imports, even though infrastructure exists and the need is urgent.

“It’s not a matter of capacity. It’s a matter of Government will,” said Jenney.

FPC has repeatedly urged the Government to:

• Deploy out-of-hours inspection teams at strategic Control Points
• Immediately reallocate underutilised resources to Kent Control Points and other key flower import locations
• Reinstate or replace AOS with a functioning, funded alternative

And still, the response is a vague nod to ‘ongoing discussions with no delivery timetable’.

A Compliance Rate of 99.5%—Yet Still No Trust

The Government insists it’s protecting biosecurity. But official data shows that cut flowers from Europe have had a 99.5% compliance rate over the past six months.

The sector is policing itself. It's working. So why the need for this draconian approach?

“This isn't effective balanced border policy—it’s intransigence not supported by their own data,” said Jenney.

“You’re penalising an entire industry because of a misplaced fixation on process over practicality.”

The Message Is Clear: Time’s Up

Enough with the ambiguity. Enough with the delays. Enough with the theoretical resets that may never arrive.

“The Government must stop talking about what might work in years to come and start fixing what’s broken today,” Jenney stated.

“What was promised to be a world-leading border has become a world-class failure. It’s now one of the most expensive and inefficient systems anywhere—crippling trade, suffocating businesses, and inflating costs that hard-pressed consumers are left to absorb.”

“This is not an accident. It is a self-inflicted crisis, born of political choices and a refusal to listen.

“The consequences are real, immediate, and entirely avoidable.”