Food inflation in Britain – already stubbornly high – could be about to get worse after new post-Brexit border controls come into effect from October.
The government this week published proposals to charge a flat-rate inspection fee of up to £43 on each consignment of food coming from the EU, which is likely to be passed onto the consumer.
Since the EU-UK trade deal came into force in January 2021, the UK government has not imposed full border checks on food imports from the bloc, but has announced its “firm intention” to phase in controls from the autumn.
Industry bodies argue the proposed charges, which range from £20 up to £43, will hit smaller firms and UK families at a time when they are already grappling with rampant food-price inflation.
UK food and drink price inflation hit a 45-year record of 19.2 per cent in March, and remained stubbornly high in April at 19.1 per cent as its European neighbours saw their rates ease considerably.
The disproportionately high inflation is in part down to post-Brexit border arrangements, despite Jacob Rees-Mogg promising in 2017 that Brexit would reduce the cost of food and wine by 20 per cent
Nichola Mallon, head of trade at Logistics UK, the haulage trade body, said the charge was “very concerning” given current price pressures. “It is too high and, if introduced, will add to inflationary pressures and is likely to lead to market distortion in the movement of goods,” she said.
Shane Brennan, the director of the Cold Chain Federation, added that the proposals made little sense at a time when the government was actively discussing imposing price controls on UK supermarkets to keep down the cost of staple foods.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said: “It is crazy that one week the government is holding a crisis meeting in Downing Street to discuss out-of-control food inflation and the next is willing to nod through a multimillion new import tax on EU food imports.”
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