---
title: UK and EU Agree Draft Deal to End Brexit Checks on Food Exports, Bringing British Sausages Back to Europe
description: The UK and EU have agreed a draft SPS deal to scrap £200 export health certificates, reopen markets to British sausages and restore pet passports.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-11-03T12:10:05.859Z
updated: 2026-11-03T12:10:05.876Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/uk-eu-deal-brexit-food-export-checks
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-27658754.webp
categories: Economy, Supply Chains
content_type: News
region: United Kingdom
publication: Sovereign Magazine
---

Britain and the European Union have agreed a draft deal that would remove most of the post-Brexit checks and paperwork on food and farm exports, the BBC reported on Tuesday. The 200-page text, known as an SPS agreement after the sanitary and phytosanitary rules it covers, has been circulated to EU governments in Brussels, and their ambassadors will discuss it on Wednesday. It is expected to go to leaders at the [UK-EU summit](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/eu-uk-summit-brussels-20-november) later this month.

## What the SPS Agreement Removes

Since Britain left the EU, each consignment of meat, dairy or fish bound for the continent has needed an Export Health Certificate costing about £200, and plants and seeds have needed a £25 phytosanitary certificate. The draft deal would scrap both, along with inspector fees, organic certificates, sampling fees and some port charges. The government says the changes will eventually be worth £5.1 billion a year to the UK economy.

## British Sausages and Seed Potatoes Return to Europe

Some British foods have been shut out of the EU altogether since 2021. Under the draft, exports of fresh sausages and burgers, shellfish from British waters and seed potatoes to the EU could resume.

## Pet Passports for Trips to Europe

If you take your dog to France or Spain, the deal would let UK pets travel into the EU on a pet passport again. Since 2021, owners in Britain have needed a new animal health certificate from a vet before each trip.

## Following EU Food Rules

In return, the UK will follow EU rules on plant, animal and food standards and adapt as those rules change, an arrangement known as dynamic alignment. The European Partnerships Bill, which the government has already announced, would provide the legal route for applying new EU rules in the UK. The same bill would link the UK's emissions trading scheme with the EU's, sparing British exporters the EU's new carbon border tax.

England has already gone its own way on precision breeding, the plant technique formerly known as gene editing, and negotiators agreed transition arrangements in recent weeks as new EU rules on it come into force.

Supermarkets and farmers' representatives back the food plans. Some pro-Brexit campaigners object to Britain taking on EU rules again.

Draft texts on emissions trading and a youth scheme letting young people travel and work in each other's countries were circulated alongside the food deal, together with a 15-page draft joint statement for UK and EU leaders. The numbers for the youth scheme are still to be settled at political level.

## Customs Paperwork Remains

The SPS deal covers food safety and animal and plant health checks, not customs declarations. The British Chambers of Commerce says the trade relationship is 'failing to deliver' and that firms are 'struggling with a thicket of Brexit red tape' nearly six years after the UK left. In its survey, 56 percent of exporting businesses wanted EU customs paperwork and delays removed, rising to 58 percent of manufacturers.

The chambers set out nine options for a closer relationship, from a customs union to a Swiss-style single market arrangement and a Canada-style associate membership. Shevaun Havilland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the government 'needs to examine all of the options, remain clear-headed about the trade-offs each involves'.

## When the Changes Could Take Effect

Nothing changes yet. The text is a draft, EU ambassadors have still to discuss it, and Parliament has still to pass the European Partnerships Bill. Until both sides sign off, exporters still need the existing certificates and checks, and pet owners still need an animal health certificate for each trip.