Business, Freight News, Logistics


Logistics UK calls for ambition in future UK/EU trade deal

[ May 13, 2025   //   ]

Logistics UK’s head of trade and devolved policy Nichola Mallon called for an ambitious agreement between the UK and EU to reduce border friction, ahead of their summit on 19 May.

She said: “The current requirement for Sanitary and PhytoSanitary (SPS) Checks on plant and animal products being exported from GB to the EU and vice versa is adding time, bureaucracy and cost to UK traders and logistics operators, with small and medium-sized enterprises and groupage operators disproportionately impacted.

“Since the UK’s decision to leave the EU was announced, Logistics UK has been constant in calling for a comprehensive SPS Agreement between both economies to speed up the passage of goods into and out of the country, while protecting the UK’s biosecurity. A mutually agreed SPS agreement would ease many of the logistics industry’s concerns about delays and disruption, which impacts the goods that factories, shops and, ultimately, consumers all rely on.”

She called on the government to be ambitious when resetting relations with the EU and reviewing the existing UK EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement: “The frictions that currently face traders – many of them caused by the need for inspections on exported and imported products of animal and plant origin – are slowing the movement of goods across the nation’s borders and into the UK’s supply chain. The EU is the UK’s biggest trading partner and, if the government is to realise its growth ambitions, reducing border friction with the EU is essential.

Logistics UK also urged the UK government and EU to reduce customs barriers at the border, particularly Safety and Security Declarations, adding: “As always, our industry stands ready to provide real-world advice and expertise to governments on both sides of the Channel to ease the passage of goods to the end user.”

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