UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures agreement

That this House welcomes the Government’s commitment to negotiate a new UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement as part of efforts to improve relations with the European Union; notes with concern, however, that negotiations have so far lacked the urgency and ambition needed to deliver meaningful economic benefits for British businesses, farmers and exporters; regrets that barriers arising from the UK’s departure from the European Union continue to impose significant costs and bureaucracy on the agri-food sector, with UK exports of food and agricultural goods to the European Union having fallen by 22 per cent since 2018, representing almost £4 billion in lost trade, while post-Brexit export licences alone cost businesses up to £65 million last year; acknowledges that closer SPS alignment would reduce red tape, strengthen supply chains, improve food security, enhance the competitiveness of British exporters and smooth trade within the UK internal market between Great Britain and Northern Ireland; further notes the absence of a clear Government timetable for negotiating and implementing a comprehensive agreement despite the scale of these economic benefits; believes that the UK should pursue a more ambitious agreement with the European Union by minimising checks, certification requirements and paperwork for food and animal products; and calls on the Government to conclude and implement an SPS agreement by the end of 2026 as part of wider efforts to deepen UK-EU economic cooperation, unlock growth and slash unnecessary Brexit bureaucracy.