National and trade press coverage of the Action Pack and the UK-EU Reset, alongside Freshtalk Daily's own reporting on why Rest of World fresh produce imports matter to Britain's food security, prices and supply.
The FT reports on Conservative plans to reverse the UK-EU food agreement. Nigel Jenney argues the Government's approach makes European trade easier while making access harder for suppliers elsewhere: “The government is knowingly compromising trade with the rest of the world.”
Read on FT.com →"The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has launched a new campaign urging farmers, businesses and the public to press MPs to strengthen the UK's food security... The UK-EU Reset Action Pack encourages supporters to call for improvements to post-Brexit trading arrangements to reduce border delays and compliance costs affecting imported fresh produce." Quotes Nigel Jenney: "When nine out of ten of the people running our food system say the risks are rising, and every one of them says government hasn't kept up, that's not a warning, it's a verdict."
Read on Farmers Weekly →"The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), the trade body representing the UK's fresh fruit, vegetable and flower supply chain, has today launched freshproduceaction.co.uk, a national campaign platform giving the public, industry and MPs the tools to act on the mounting risks facing Britain's food security."
Read on HortWeek →Fruitnet reports that fresh produce businesses can now write to their MP about UK-EU Reset trade friction in under ten minutes using FPC's new online Action Pack, which consolidates the trade body's evidence with ready-to-send email templates.
Read on Fresh Produce Journal →The Grocer covers FPC's letter urging the Prime Minister to retain the UK's existing science-based regime for Rest of World fresh produce, warning that EU-style checks would add more than £300m a year in costs that shoppers would ultimately pay.
Read on The Grocer →Fruitnet covers the launch of the "One Squeeze Too Far" chefs' petition, developed by FPC in partnership with Delifresh, which has since been signed by more than 1,350 chefs, restaurateurs and kitchen professionals.
Read on Fresh Produce Journal →"This is not simplification. It is a transfer of burden. And the industry's effective solutions and repeated warnings are being ignored," FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney told Grocery Gazette, warning that new EU-style controls on Rest of World supply chains — which already have a 99.5% compliance record — could mean up to 120,000 consignments a year facing potential physical inspection.
Read on Grocery Gazette →FarmingUK reports FPC's warning that new UK-EU border controls would impose EU-style SPS checks on global fresh produce imports, costing the sector more than £300m, despite those supply chains already achieving 99.5% compliance.
Read on FarmingUK →Farmers Weekly reports FPC's call for an independent impact assessment before final measures are set, warning that expanded inspections on perishable Rest of World produce risk higher prices and supply disruption.
Read on Farmers Weekly →
As the Conservatives pledge to reverse Labour's UK-EU agreements, FPC's chief executive puts Britain's global fresh produce supply chains at the centre of the debate, warning that closer ties with Europe must not penalise trade with the rest of the world.
"Whilst we would like a closer relationship with Europe, we don't believe that closer relationship should be at the cost or the penalty of trading with the rest of the world." — Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce ConsortiumRead on Freshtalk Daily →
British berry growers are proving that home-grown production can withstand a changing climate — but FPC warns that resilience alone can't secure the sector's future. Around half of the fresh produce the UK imports comes from countries outside the EU, supplying citrus, mangoes, blueberries and more that can't be grown domestically in sufficient quantities.
"This is a transfer of burden, not a simplification — and it is British shoppers who would pay." — Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce ConsortiumRead on Freshtalk Daily →
FPC has joined forces with Delifresh to urge chefs and foodservice operators to reject a border plan that would add EU-style SPS charges to Rest of World fresh produce — the same produce that makes up roughly half of everything Britain imports from beyond Europe.
"Chefs don't often get asked for their view on trade policy, but this is exactly the moment they should be heard." — Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce ConsortiumRead on Freshtalk Daily →
A new UN report found the EU's own farm subsidy system has driven up fruit and veg prices. FPC says the finding lands at exactly the wrong moment for the UK-EU Reset, which would layer EU-style border checks onto safe, Rest of World produce.
"Copying EU-style border friction onto safe, Rest of World (RoW) produce would do to UK shoppers exactly what this report warns against — it would tax healthy eating through the back door." — Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce ConsortiumRead on Freshtalk Daily →
FPC has written to the Prime Minister urging him to scrap a plan that would impose EU-style border controls on Rest of World fresh produce — food grown outside the EU that makes up around half of all UK fresh produce imports.
"Nothing has changed in the science. What has changed is the politics. This is a transfer of burden, not a simplification — and it is British shoppers who would pay." — Nigel Jenney, Chief Executive, Fresh Produce ConsortiumRead on Freshtalk Daily →
Want the full evidence and a ready-made way to add your voice? The Industry Action Pack has everything in one place.
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