Dynamic trade alignment with EU possible by next year

A closer trading relationship between the UK and EU for agricultural goods could be ready for implementation by the middle of next year, according to trade specialists.

Dynamic alignment with the EU should help reduce trade frictions for UK exports, but could also lead to new regulations and standards being imposed on British farmers in order to comply with certain EU rules.

This could potentially include matching requirements with the EU on pesticide usage, animal welfare during transport, and organic standards.

See also: Freer trade with EU likely as SPS deal gathers momentum

NFU’s head of trade and business strategy, Gail Soutar, suggested that an agreement could be made by this summer, with the parliamentary process likely to be completed by end of 2026 ready for implementation in 2027.

Ms Soutar said the EU remains by far the UK’s most important agri-food trading partner, but since 2019 imports had grown significantly, while exports to the EU had largely stagnated.

She added that a potential agreement could help unlock trade for seed potatoes, and provide opportunities for the UK horticultural sector, but may create other trade-offs.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw told Farmers Weekly he hoped that a transition phase would be put in place for pesticide products that have already been registered in the UK but not yet registered in the EU, rather than access to them being revoked.

 “One would assume that the EU will also want to register those products in the future, so it is on them to speed up their transition process for approval,” said Mr Bradshaw.

Figures presented by the NFU showed that UK exports to the EU had dropped dramatically between 2019 and 2024, with beef exports volumes down by 24%, lamb down by 14%, poultry down 38%, and dairy down by 16%.

Euro Quality Lambs managing director Rizvan Khalid had observed post-Brexit trade frictions impacting UK lamb exports due to export declarations, import checks and customs checks.

 “There are a lot of smaller operators that have stopped exporting because they cannot put up with the paperwork and restrictions that go alongside it,” said Mr Khalid.

EU-UK negotiations

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee chairman and Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael stated that trade deals were political acts that have commercial and economic consequences.

He gave credit to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for moving forward with the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, but says it is one that brings for us real threats and opportunities.

“If we’re going to minimise the threats and maximise the opportunities, then we have got to shape the politics that will shape this year,” said Mr Carmichael. “We need to be shaping the politics in Brussels.”

Northern Ireland farming minister Andrew Muir broadly welcomed the idea of closer alignment between the UK and EU.

“The SPS agreement must work for the whole of the UK,” he said. “It must work for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland is in a special situation because of the Windsor Framework and the EU single market for goods, so we need to make sure that standards that are applied across GB are also applicable to Northern Ireland.”