The National Farmers Union (NFU) has said again how critical it is to avoid a “cliff edge” and ensure there is a “sensible, phased transitional approach” to alignment with the EU as part of the future Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.
“This is to ensure that British farm businesses can effectively produce food without crippling costs and a loss of income,” the NFU said.
The SPS agreement is a deal between the UK and the EUÂ aimed at creating a common, reduced-friction trade area for agri-food products, while potentially requiring dynamic alignment for Great Britain (GB) following EU rules.
According to the NFU, the need for a transitional period comes as analysis by The Andersons Centre, commissioned by CropLife UK, “outlines how immediate and complete alignment with the EU on plant protection products available could cost the arable, horticulture and sugar sectors between £500 million and £810 million in the first year alone”.
GB approved products
Since January 2021, following sustainability and safety testing, four new plant protection products have been approved in GB that are not yet available in the EU, the NFU added
“Immediate alignment with EU rules in June 2027, could lead to the sudden loss of access to these and other key plant protection products,” the farmers’ union continued.
NFU said that this would reduce British growers ability to control disease, weeds, and pests in combinable crops, fruit, vegetables and root crops, “reducing productivity and the growers ability to operate profitably”.
The NFU has held meetings with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Secretary of State, Defra senior officials, and the Cabinet Office, as well as with UK and EU negotiators, raising concerns about the impact a poorly implemented agreement could have on UK growers.
The union has been calling for British farmers to continue to have access to GB approved actives until the EU rules are next reviewed.
NFU president, Tom Bradshaw said: “There are significant risks to farm businesses and British food production which need to be very carefully managed within SPS negotiations.
“An SPS deal is about removing friction and unlocking trade with our largest trading partner, but we have to get it right.
“For plant protection products, the best option would be for British farmers to retain access to GB-approved plant protection products until the EU rules are next reviewed, rather than being pushed towards a cliff-edge because of an arbitrary deadline.”
NFU Crops board chair, Jamie Burrows said: “The arable sector is already under serious pressure after one of the worst harvests in a generation and years of cereal prices being way below the cost of production.
“The prospect of losing access to such key crop protection tools, and hundreds of millions of pounds with them through loss of yield, would be catastrophic.”
“The UK government needs to prioritise the future of the thousands of arable and horticulture businesses that use these critical plant protection products to produce the nation’s food,” he added.
