UK food industry reveals imports are being sent back to EU for inspection due to lack of testing capacity | Food and drink industry

Food authorities say imported food entering the UK through Brexit border checkpoints is being sent back to Europe for testing due to a lack of UK laboratory capacity.

The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies responsible for Britain's £100bn food supply, has written to the government to warn its members that some imported food samples are being sent to countries including Germany for testing before they are allowed to leave the country's borders.

It said a lack of laboratory facilities was leading to additional costs, longer delays and shorter shelf lives for food entering the UK.

The letter, sent last week to new environment secretary Steve Reid, comes three months after the government introduced new checks on plant and animal products imported into the UK after Brexit.

From April 30, screening will be carried out at border control points near UK ports, aimed at strengthening the UK's biosecurity and preventing diseases from being imported into the UK from the continent.

In some cases, these tests require taking food samples to a laboratory for microbiological or chemical analysis or to verify the authenticity of the product.

However, the UK currently faces a shortage of laboratory capacity and is relying more on international partners for help with testing samples.

In a separate circular published this month, Robin May, chief scientific adviser at the Food Standards Agency, expressed concern about the UK's declining capacity for official laboratories.

The SPS working group letter states that in some cases, samples were sent to UK laboratories and then sent back to facilities in Europe without the knowledge or consent of the originating food business.

The agency added: This would require issuing an export health certificate to export samples to EU laboratories, which could lead to additional costs, delays, loss of shelf life and reduced food availability. Especially when the shelf life is short, results may be too late to be of real value.

The SPS Working Group was formed three years ago and includes a wide range of food businesses, from farmers to food producers and transporters. Members include the Fresh Produce Consortium, Chilled Food Association, Dairy UK and the Road Haulage Association.

Their letter also highlights 18 other problems with border procedures that are hindering trade between the EU and the UK.

These include complaints that most border control posts have too limited operating hours to support 24/7 trade, and that there is a lack of a 24/7 helpline for importers who need assistance.

The government's Sevington Border Control station in Ashford, Kent, which handles imports coming through the Port of Dover, is the only border control station that operates 24 hours a day.

The letter also targeted importers of animal products from the continent, claiming that in some cases the high costs made some imports commercially unviable. Food and plant importers have been hit by the costs of new border checks, and some logistics companies have said the changes have increased their transport costs by up to 60%.

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According to the article, EU exporters said they would review whether to continue supplying the UK once their current supply contracts expire, taking into account the new regime and associated issues.

The letter also included an analysis showing that British food companies had spent more than $205 million on export health certificates since leaving the single market.

After the UK formally left the single market in early 2021, the EU required exporters of animal food products to have their consignments inspected by a veterinarian and signed an Export Health Certificate (EHC) before exporting food.

Analysis of the SPS, based on Freedom of Information requests submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has revealed that exporters have requested more than one million EHCs.

Britain took reciprocal action in January, raising concerns that some EU businesses could abandon exports to the UK due to the added costs and bureaucracy.

The UK government said it was confident that its laboratories had sufficient capacity and that it was common for laboratories to subcontract work to other laboratories when specialist testing was required.

The report added: “Protecting the UK’s biosecurity remains one of our key priorities and we are working with border controls to ensure they operate effectively and with traders to ensure checks are completed efficiently, quickly and without significant delays.”

We want to improve trade and investment relations between the UK and the EU and we will take a pragmatic approach to supporting business.

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