The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) is calling for simplified border processes and trusted trader schemes as environmental horticulture businesses continue to face “significant” challenges four years into Brexit.
“The past year has been marked by severe trade border issues, including significant delays, excessive red tape, and rising costs, all of which limit consumer choice,” says Jennifer Pheasey, director of public affairs at the HTA.
Labour’s autumn budget last year has “compounded” these difficulties further for a sector largely made up of SMEs, alongside unpredictable weather.
“These obstacles are not only persisting; they are worsening. Now is the time for action. As we approach 2025, the sector needs support to overcome these challenges and unlock its full potential.
“We welcome the ambition to reset relations with the EU, but immediate action is necessary to foster growth, and repairing UK-EU relations is crucial for addressing these challenges.”
The HTA is asking for the reset to include a Plant Health agreement, but argues that this must be combined with improving current border operations and investment in Border Control Post infrastructure to reduce delays and minimise stock damage.
Border Control Posts were introduced last year, with the government’s facility in Sevington adding on a Common User Charge (CUC) for all lorries passing through to cover the cost of unloading and reloading lorries.
“Any such solution would also require time and support to restore supply chains and trading relationships. The border issues extend beyond UK-EU trade and encompass other related policies. There is an urgent need for comprehensive oversight of trade policies, including those concerning Northern Ireland, GB plant passport regulations, and CITES requirements. Without coordinated action, the sector risks facing increased friction, higher costs, and reduced competitiveness, undermining green growth and adversely impacting consumers,” says Pheasey.
Kent-based Provender Nurseries invested in its own inland Control Point last year, but Stuart Tickner – its head of nursery, biosecurity and production – says the company is still seeing “cost increases from suppliers, hauliers, and import costs themselves.
“All of the frictions around the BCPs have meant some hauliers, drivers, and even growers have decided they don’t want to export to the UK anymore.”
Plants, trees, and flowers produced domestically were valued at £1.7bn in 2023, while imports of plants and plant material totalled £780m, with 99% sourced from the EU.
Brexit was seen as an opportunity for increasing plant production in Britain, increasing profits, employment, growing the horticultural sector and also reducing bureaucracy and transport associated with imports and the carbon footprint. To what extent has this happened, and what has helped or hindered?