The government has announced that planned sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU imports into the UK have been cancelled in advance of the upcoming UK-EU SPS agreement.
In a press release shared yesterday (18 August), the government wrote that it would be “suspending the introduction of extra border checks on live animal imports from the EU, and on specific animal and plant goods from Ireland”.
This would “support British businesses and ease trade ahead of its new SPS deal with the EU”.
SPS agreement
The UK-EU SPS agreement was confirmed May, following a summit intended to ‘reset’ relations between the two parties post-Brexit.
The exact terms have yet to be announced, but the government wrote that the agreement would “establish a UK-EU SPS zone, cutting costs and red tape for businesses that export and import from the EU, reducing delays at the border, and making food trade with the UK’s biggest market cheaper and easier”.
The announcement did confirm certain checks that would definitely not be required under the agreement:
“Border checks on live animal imports from the EU as well as on certain plant and animal goods arriving from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (termed non-qualifying goods) will not be required, as their implementation is disproportionate”.
Remaining measures
However, the government notes that certain SPS controls introduced under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) will remain in place, namely “some live animals imported from the EU will continue to be inspected at their place of destination based on a series of risk factors”.
“Protecting UK biosecurity remains a key government priority, and risk-based surveillance will continue to manage the biosecurity threats of these products.”
In an email, the Animal & Plant Health Agency also highlighted that “BTOM controls that are already in place will continue until further notice”.
The agency added that while UK-EU negotiations are ongoing, “we will review the decision to pause further BTOM implementation for these commodities as further detail and SPS agreement timelines are confirmed”.
Chartered Institute perspective
The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s Customs Advisory Practice director Anna Doherty said that the decision to suspend additional BTOM measures would be welcomed by traders, although many are still grappling with costs associated with existing measures.
“The industry will welcome the certainty that this announcement brings for the outstanding controls that were due to be implemented under BTOM, ensuring that the existing processes can be followed until the SPS agreement is finalised and implemented.
“However, BTOM did introduce several layers of additional controls that UK importers must comply with, which are still generating additional costs.
“While these will hopefully be removed by the SPS agreement, we will not know the exact impact until the details of the agreement are published.”
