EU Alignment 'will not cut trade red tape'

The government's proposed dynamic alignment with EU SPS rules has been framed as a solution to trade red tape. Our CEO Rob Hardy doesn't see it that way and he's said so in The Grocer this week. 

This week, our CEO Rob Hardy told The Grocer that claims the SPS deal will slash red tape for UK traders are significantly oversold.

Rob's view is clear,  the real friction in UK trade is on the import side, and much of it stems from UK-designed processes that could be reformed without paying for an EU agreement.

Dynamic alignment would cost up to £700m a year in surrendered regulatory sovereignty, while leaving the root causes unaddressed. The UK's IPAFFS system, the risk classification framework, and port health authority fees are where the pain is actually felt. Fix those first.

Here's the reality:

The real friction is on the import side, driven by UK-designed processes, not EU ones

• Dynamic alignment would cost up to £700m/year in regulatory sovereignty

•  IPAFFS, risk classifications and port health fees are the actual pain points — and none of those get fixed by an SPS deal

•  Difficulties for UK exporters to the EU largely come down to preparation failures, not the process itself

The UK has bargaining power. 23% of the EU's agrifood exports come here. We shouldn't be paying for an agreement that suits them more than us.

"It is not required, takes too long to agree, costs too much and could be solved in so many better ways."

Read Rob's full comments in The Grocer below