Proposals to increase plant health fees by 27% from this autumn will not be what growers want to hear.
Since the implementation of post-Brexit checks on imports of fresh produce and other items, growers and their suppliers in Europe have suffered from delays, lost product, higher costs and reduced choice. In addition, Defra recently suggested that in its first full year of operation, the Sevington border control facility in Kent could cost £23 million. It is no wonder that ministers and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are looking to recoup costs.
Growers, led by the NFU, have been pointing to numerous faults in the system, such a lack of basic biosecurity at inspection facilities, and urging ministers to let the industry take control of the system itself through an Authorised Operator Status (AOS) type system. As the NFU point out, ‘In the five years since the last fees review, costs have increased substantially, in part due to inflation, but largely due to APHA implementing increased import and export services that have become necessary because of the UK’s exit from the EU.’
Given the other cost increases horticultural businesses face, such as the rise in Employers National Insurance Contributions and the Living Wage, and the tight margins in the sector, for many these proposed increases will simply be unaffordable.
The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) believes the proposed changes could see annual fees paid by the industry increase from around £6.5 million to at least £16 million, with 95% falling on the fruit, vegetable, and plant sectors. The government will argue that it wants a full cost recovery model, but in response it must deliver a modern, streamlined system which is fit for purpose and which adds value to growers.
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