[1andrew1]

The government wants to dip into our wallets again!

UK post-Brexit border charges will increase food prices, warns industry

Food and logistics bodies say inspection fees on produce from the EU will hit smaller firms and UK families

New post-Brexit controls due to be introduced from next January will hit UK consumers by driving up the price of food and risking supply-chain disruption, the food and logistics industry has warned.

The concerns emerged after the UK government this week published proposals to charge a flat-rate inspection fee of up to £43 on each consignment of food coming from the EU.

The concerns emerged after the UK government this week published proposals to charge a flat-rate inspection fee of up to £43 on each consignment of food coming from the EU.

Industry bodies argue the proposed charges, which range from £20 up to £43, will hit smaller firms and UK families at a time when they are already grappling with rampant food-price inflation.

Shane Brennan, the director of the Cold Chain Federation, added that the proposals made little sense at a time when the government was actively discussing imposing price controls on UK supermarkets to keep down the cost of staple foods.

“It is crazy that one week the government is holding a crisis meeting in Downing Street to discuss out-of-control food inflation and the next is willing to nod through a multimillion new import tax on EU food imports,” he said.

According to research by the London School of Economics, Brexit’s impact on food prices has cost each household £250 since December 2019, or £6.95bn for the entire UK. About 28 per cent of food consumed in the UK comes from the EU.

https://www.ft.com/content/3b3ec1be-...9-a29314105118