Food imports to UK being sent back to EU for testing, industry body says

Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested owing to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, a food body has said.

- Jack Simpson

The SPS Certification working group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK's food supply, has written to the government to say members are being told some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.

It said the lack of lab facilities was causing extra costs, longer delays and a shorter shelf-life for food imports.

The letter, which was sent to the environment secretary, Steve Reed, last week, comes three months after the previous government introduced post-Brexit checks on animal and plant products coming into Britain.

The checks at border control posts near UK ports aim to enhance Britain's biosecurity and stop the introduction of diseases from mainland Europe.

These checks sometimes require samples of food being taken for testing in labs.

However, the UK is facing a shortage in laboratory capabilities and is reliant on international partners for help with sample testing.