MPs urged: Count to 10

Food trade fears amid EU exit slowdown

CRASHING out of the EU would have an “enormous” impact on Britain’s food and drink trade, industry chiefs warn.

Leaving the single market and customs union in March 2019 without a trade deal would “threaten the viability” of many firms, they said. The heads of 26 industry bodies have signed a joint letter to MPs, with 10 priorities for the second wave of Brexit talks with the EU. They include securing a transitional trade deal, negotiating rights to remain for EU workers here, agreeing special arrangements for the Irish border and “turbocharging” exports. Ian Wright, director general of the Food and Drink Federation, said the lead-up to Brexit was like “a car crash in slow motion”. He warned that without a settlement, firms may stockpile ingredients ahead of the imposition of hefty World Trade Organisation tariffs.

The letter is signed by trade bodies for meat producers and distributors to frozen food firms, as well as the British Poultry Council.

It says: “Abrupt change would have enormous consequences for our industry, its employees and the choice and availability of food in this country.”

It comes as a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, out today, found work across all construction sectors slowed in the past three months.

The group said uncertainties over Brexit were delaying investment decisions.

Meanwhile, a report from the Institute of Directors says firms are holding off making contingency plans to deal with Brexit as they wait for more clarity from the Government.