Food shortages and price hikes feared post-Brexit transition even WITH a deal, industry chiefs warn MPs

Business leaders have warned MPs that the UK could face food shortages and price rises even if the UK manages to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

Industry chiefs of sectors spanning food and drink to car production and financial services gave evidence on Tuesday to a Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee examining the Brexit preparedness of British companies.

They raised concerns including expected “confusion and chaos” over trade with Northern Ireland post-January 1, potential “significant costs” to the car industry, and worries around financial services and the wider future relationship with the EU.

Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) warned politicians that a lack of clarity over tariffs and border checks at this late stage means industry leaders "can't be absolutely certain about the movement of food from the EU to the UK from 1 January”.

The UK and EU are still negotiating a trading partnership, with the transition period set to end on December 31.  Committee chair, Darren Jones, released a statement after the hearing saying that it had “heard evidence which pointed, even in the event of a Brexit deal, to potential food shortages and price rises” after that date.

Wright told MPs that across the year around 40% of the UK’s food is imported, rising to around 60% over winter. More than two-thirds of this imported food comes from countries in the EU, with more than 50% being perishable food items.

He said: “It is the really critical question. We can’t be absolutely certain about the movement of food from the EU to the UK from 1 January for two reasons.

“One is with checks at the border. The other is tariffs, and the problem with tariffs is we don't know what they will be, we don’t know if they will be imposed, with just 14 days to go.

“This is all about lorries with the right paperwork getting through a small number of ports.”

He added that there are worries among business leaders that interruption of supply in the first three or four week post-transition period could "erode the confidence of the shopper in the supply chain”.

He said: “It’s a supply chain which are the moment has really, really done very well over Covid and shoppers will expect the same thing over Brexit, and they may not see it.”

The business chief slammed trading arrangements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland - the Northern Ireland Protocol - as a “complete shambles”.

He highlighted a survey of the federation’s members which showed 43% of traders who usually supply northern Ireland said they would not continue to do so for up to three months in 2021.

He pointed out that rules for sending goods from Welsh ports to Northern Ireland had only just been published, and said: "It's too late."