Latest news with #SPSagreement
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
EU gets access to British fishing waters for 12 years under reset deal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after he agreed to grant European trawlers access to British fishing waters for a further 12 years under his EU reset deal. Among the agreements unveiled on Monday was a 12-year extension of fishing arrangements when the current deal ends next year, allowing European vessels to operate in UK waters under the same terms until 2038. Critics said the length of the agreement made the UK into a 'rule taker' from Brussels, while the Government said the deal provided long-term certainty for fishing fleets. Sir Keir said the old deal would have meant year-on-year negotiations over fishing access and insisted fisheries would be better off under the deal, pointing particularly to the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the bloc. 'We've reached a deal today on fish, protecting our access, rights and fishing areas with no increase in the amount that EU vessels can catch in British waters,' he told a press conference. 'Our fishing industry will also benefit from the new SPS agreement which slashes costs and red tape for our exports into the European market. 'And we already sell 70% of our seafood into that market, so it's really significant. 'It is also opening the gates to sending shellfish back into the EU.' The Prime Minister said a new £360 million fishing and coastal growth fund that will invest in new technology and equipment to modernise Britain's fishing fleet would help fisheries to 'take advantage of this deal'. There will be no change to current access to fish for coastal communities and no reduction in the British quota or increase in the quota the EU is allowed to catch. Scottish First Minister John Swinney said the Government has 'surrendered' fishing in its deal, and that it shows Scotland is an 'afterthought' in decision making. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation branded the UK-EU deal a 'horror show' for the sector. The Conservatives criticised the agreement, with party leader Kemi Badenoch saying it made the UK a 'rule taker from Brussels once again'. Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: 'The Prime Minister has just sunk the United Kingdom fishing industry.' Former prime minister Boris Johnson said it was a 'total sell-out' of UK fisheries. 'A large part of Brexit was taking back control of our fantastic coastal waters. From January next year under the deal that we did, we were going to get back control of every single sprat, mackerel in UK water,' he told GB News. Sir Keir had earlier said it was not the case that when the current deal expired there would have ceased to be EU fishing in UK waters, but rather that a new agreement would need to be made every year.
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UK and EU agree food standards deal to cut trade red tape
BRUSSELS/LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union on Monday agreed to prevent unnecessary border checks on agricultural produce such as meat and dairy under a food standards deal that is a key part of a wider reset in relations. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement will have no time limit, giving British businesses more certainty, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said in a statement. His office and an EU diplomat said the EU had agreed an indefinite deal to allow farm produce to trade with vastly reduced checks and paperwork. The deal, positioned by Britain as a central part of the reset, will eliminate some existing checks on plant and animal products, reducing lengthy lorry queues at the border and allowing food and drink to be traded more freely again. Britain said the SPS agreement, along with a separate deal on linking emissions trading systems, was expected add 9 billion pounds ($12 billion) to UK economic output by 2040. Britain said talks with the EU would continue on the details of the food standards deal and other agreements to be finalised as part of the reset, and it was unclear when the deal would take effect. ($1 = 0.7467 pounds)
