BREXIT-related tariff and non-tariff ‘barriers’ could lead to “significant” food price rises and disruption to the supply chain if the government fails to secure a sufficient post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, a new report has warned.
The Lords’ EU Energy and Environment sub-committee’s report, Brexit: Food Prices and Availability, highlighted that with 30% of the UK’s food coming from the EU, and a further 11% imported from non-EU countries under the terms of trade deals negotiated by the EU, it is “inconceivable that Brexit will have no impact on EU food imports to the UK”.
It said that while the government hopes to negotiate a new trade agreement with the EU, if it fails to, then Brexit is “likely to result in an average tariff on food imports of 22%”; while it stated this would not equate to a 22% rise in food prices, the report said, “there can be no doubt” that prices would rise.
