UK Traders Worry Over Costly “Fresh Produce” Imports From The EU

In a recent set of events, UK traders are worrying about the new strategy of the UK government. The latest UK post-Brexit border strategy is known as the target operating model (TOM). The new strategy proposal includes an additional levy on the import checks procedures.

Due to the new border strategy by the UK government, UK traders, specifically from the “Fresh Produce Industry” are in the process of countering the by-product consequences of the levied charges. Imports of fresh produce include such as fruits, vegetables, cut flowers and plants.

UK Fresh Produces Import

The below-shown list of commodities consists of the fresh produces that the UK import from other countries. The featured values are the imports the UK accounted for in the year 2022. HS Code classifications are also provided as a means to identify the commodity’s HS Code.

Fresh fruit imports by the UK amounted to a total value of $6.09 billion in 2022. Fresh vegetable imports amounted to a total value of $4.3 billion in the same year. Cut flowers and plants amounted to $876.5 million and $820.8 million respectively for the year 2022.

The HS-Code classification for fresh fruits and vegetables consists of all the edible fruits & vegetables that are a part of Chapters 08 and 07. The same goes for cut flowers and plants for Headings 0603 and 0602 respectively, consisting of all kinds of flowers and plants.

UK Imports from The EU

The UK import data 2022 represents the import values of each commodity accounted for. Fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for total import values of $2.07 billion and $3.09 billion respectively, while cut flowers and plants amounted to $526.04 million and $803.32 million respectively.

UK Traders Imports of Produces

The impact on the above-mentioned commodities can be determined on the basis of the following import values. The import values are featured on a quarterly basis and follow a time period from the second quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023 (the latest available data).

The imports of fruits in the UK from the EU amounted to a value of $599.5 million in the second quarter of 2022, followed by $462.2 million and $447.7 million in the third quarter and fourth quarter respectively. In the first quarter of 2023, the value amounted to $440.4 million.

The vegetable imports by the UK from the EU amounted to a total value of $802.2 million in the second quarter of 2022, followed by $595.9 and $743.3 million in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 respectively. In the first quarter of 2023, the total value of imports amounted to $146 million.

The imports of flowers in the UK from the EU in the second quarter of 2022 amounted to $136.8 million, followed by values of $99 million and $97.8 million in the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, the total import value amounted to $146.05 million.

The imports of plants in the UK from the EU amounted to a total value of $256.5 million in the second quarter of 2022, followed by $117.5 and $147.7 million in the third and fourth quarters respectively. In the first quarter of 2023, the total value of imports amounted to $267.8 million.

As is evident from the above representations of the UK imports 2023 coming in from the EU, the values of imports for vegetables, flowers, and plants have increased, while the import value of fruits has fallen gradually by the first quarter of 2023.

Industry experts are claiming that imports will get costlier, resulting in high prices and the market’s downfall, hitting the SMEs highest and impacting the consumer purchasing intent. The imports for the commodities are highly likely to fall, considering if the strategy is implemented.