The UK and the European Union agreed on a UK-EU SPS agreement at a summit in London on Monday 19 May. This means that animal and plant products can soon be shipped from the EU to the UK without phytosanitary certificates. The inspections at the UK border will also be a thing of the past. If the UK Parliament approves the SPS agreement between the EU and the UK, it will be a reality.
The SPS agreement entails that, in their territories, the EU and the UK will apply the same rules on sanitary, phytosanitary and food safety. Under the agreement, the UK and the EU accept the same rules regarding general consumer protection for the production, distribution and consumption of agricultural products. The SPS agreement also covers the regulation of live animals and pesticides, organic substances and market standards for various products and sectors.
Once the SPS deal is effective, trees, plants and certain flowers from the Netherlands destined for the UK will no longer require phytosanitary certificates. Also, the phytosanitary inspections by KCB (for plants and flowers) and Naktuinbouw (for trees) will be history. When it will be, is not yet clear, however. The SPS agreement still needs to be fleshed out, after which the rules must be implemented.
