UK Government's new border strategy will make fresh produce £200 million more expensive

The UK Government's new border strategy will make fresh produce £200 million more expensive due to government bureaucracy and official inspections for goods imported from the EU

FPC’s view is that the implementation of the government strategy, though supporting UK biosecurity, is unnecessarily bureaucratic and excessively expensive for the industry.

Despite being classified as ‘temporarily low risk’, a vast proportion of fruit and veg has now been moved to the Medium Risk category with no clarity on how long the temporary status will remain.

Plus, the Common User Charge (CuC) poses a significant challenge, especially for SME’s. Fees could range from £20 to £43 per consignment entering through Port of Dover / Eurotunnel, incurring costs of £600-£1200 per consignment for the average importer

FPC’s ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION PROPOSED TO GOVERNMENT:

1.Authorise credible companies within the sector to conduct their own on-site inspections - enhancing bio-security & fundamentally reducing costs

2 .Widely adopt the AOS (Authorised Operator Status scheme) before inspections are implemented