UK faces higher fruit and vegetable prices for non-EU goods
A variety of vegetables and fruits imported from outside the EU could become more expensive in the UK, following UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's pledge to align the country with the EU's food and drink import regulations.
This could impact fruits such as pineapples, avocados, oranges and mangoes, as well as more regularly used items such as tomatoes.
According to the Fresh Produce Consortium, only 5% of fresh food products on average are inspected currently.
At the moment, EU import checks are more rigorous than those already in place in the UK. This means that the UK may soon have to deal with more border red tape, which could in turn result in price hikes for these food items.
Nigel Jenney, the chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, said, as reported by The Telegraph: 'Whilst we have resolved the EU border position, we have moved the problem and the cost to non-EU goods. What we have saved on one hand, we have lost on the other.
'A lot of that cost or a lot of that burden now appears to have been applied- subject to dynamic alignment- to goods being sourced from the rest of the world.'
Less than 5% of citrus fruits coming into the UK are inspected currently, but following this deal, that figure could rise to 100%, increasing costs and delays.
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The International Trade Centre estimates that nearly one-third of avocados imported into the UK last year originated from Peru, whereas almost 93% of imported pineapples were from Costa Rica.
The UK imports around half of its oranges from South Africa or Egypt, whereas around a quarter of tomatoes come from Morocco.
The country also imports onions, lettuce, bell peppers, cucumbers, cauliflowers and broccoli, along with exotic vegetables such as yams, which could also be affected.
European fruit and vegetable producers are not yet able to replace these imports at the required scale, which means that UK importers will likely have no option but to cough up the higher costs and deal with the delays involved.
Although European farmers could eventually plant more crops, especially for citrus fruits, to meet the higher demand coming from the UK, prices are still likely to increase in the short term.
Similarly, worries about delays at ports and longer wait times before products reach shop shelves have been expressed.
However, the UK government has emphasised that this deal is expected to help the EU and UK to sidestep inspections for several plant and animal products, which in turn could lower the prices for those food items and provide greater choices to consumers.
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