Dear Colleague,
The UK-EU Reset was intended to reduce friction. For fresh produce, as currently drafted, it does the opposite: it risks imposing EU-style SPS controls on Rest of World imports destined solely for UK consumers. Half of everything we import — citrus, mangoes, blueberries, sweet potatoes, peppers — travels those routes. This is not a technical footnote. It is a direct threat to availability, affordability and the resilience of our supply chains.
Our position is straightforward and constructive. We support a better relationship with the EU. We simply ask Government to retain the UK's existing science-based, risk-led regime for Rest of World produce coming here for UK consumption — a regime already achieving 99.5% compliance across some 120,000 consignments a year. The science has not changed. The politics have. Replacing what works would add over £300 million in cost, more delay, more waste, and no measurable benefit to biosecurity.
A change of political leadership creates a genuine window to fix this — but only if our industry speaks now, together, and with one clear message.
This pack gives you everything you need to do exactly that. The Reset Paradox briefing sets out the full argument in fifteen slides. Protecting Our Diverse, Healthy Global Food Supply distils the case into a four-step action plan. The inspection frequency comparison sets our regime against the EU’s, category by category, for anyone who wants the underlying evidence. The campaign video is ready to share with colleagues, customers and stakeholders. And the two templates — the email to the Prime Minister and the email to your colleagues and customers — mean you do not have to start from a blank page.
Please do not leave this to someone else. Ministers count letters. Personalise the template with your own consignment volumes and cost exposure, send it, copy in your MP, and copy me. Hundreds of businesses making the case in their own words in support of FPC’s constructive solution make this a challenge that Andy Burnham cannot ignore.
Take ten minutes. Make your stand. It matters.
