How the removal of routine border checks on EU-UK animal and plant shipments simplifies trade
The new EU-UK post-Brexit trade negotiations offer an opportunity to be more efficient for companies involved in importing and exporting goods between the EU and UK. They also offer an opportunity to companies that produce fish exports, farming, and those importing flowers to the UK to expand their market.
In this blog article, we discuss the details of the new EU-UK post-Brexit trade negotiations and how they could help your business.
TIMOCOM can help your logistics or fishing, farming or flower company expand into new markets seamlessly. We offer a solution-oriented logistics marketplace to help you overcome shipping and transporting complexities of post-Brexit trade. With our international logistics network, covering more than 45 countries, we can support your business growth both domestically and internationally.
Test now for free the TIMOCOM Road Freight Marketplace. Simply fill out your company details to get started.
What are the new EU-UK post-Brexit trade negotiations?
A new deal, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS), was finalised on 21st May 2025 to simplify the process for some imports and exports between the EU-UK. This includes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
What are sanitary and phytosanitary goods?
Sanitary and Phytosanitary goods are subject to specific controls for safety reasons. These include milk, dairy, eggs, red meat, plants for planting and potatoes.
Has UK export to EU increased since Brexit?
The EU is the UK’s largest trading partner, but due to Brexit, there was a 21% drop in exports and 7% decrease in imports between 2018 and 2024. This new legislation would mean the UK will be able to sell various products to the EU again to improve this.
Advantages of the EU-UK Trade Negotiations
There are many benefits to the new SPS Agreement which include streamlining trade and reducing costs. Less admin and costs. Previously, UK food exports such as dairy, fish, eggs, and red meat were subject to 100% paperwork checks and up to 30% physical controls. But the creation of a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone will remove the need for Export Health Certificates (EHC), veterinary checks and admin, which could save businesses up to £200 per consignment.
It will remove some routine checks on animal and plant products completely, allowing products such as burgers and sausages back into the EU.
Save time
Before this agreement, extra admin and checks between the UK and EU could mean substantial lorry queues at EU border checks. The removal of a lot of these checks will reduce this congestion and allow logistics companies and producers to be more efficient.
Countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany that export fishing, farming, and flower products to the UK should find it quicker to get their products to their destination, which should lead to more satisfied customers, too. Professional companies that previously have found it challenging to continue with freight forwarding after Brexit, can benefit from the new agreement deal too.
Help with carbon tax
The agreement also means co-operation on emissions through linking the Emissions Trading Systems. This will improve the UK’s energy security and prevent businesses from being hit by the EU’s carbon tax, which is due to come in 2026.
Increase competitiveness
By allowing certain goods to flow freely again from the UK to the EU, this helps producers and logistics companies expand their market and grow their business. With the new EU-UK Trade Negotiations, TIMOCOM expects there to be more loads and freight shipping requests for hauliers and international transport companies, which will provide more opportunities for these businesses. If you are interested in finding loads now, we recommend you to get the free trial on TIMOCOM. You simply have to fill out your company details and will receive a free test account.
Disadvantages of the EU-UK Trade Negotiations
While there are many benefits to this new deal, there have been some concerns.
Reduction in UK regulatory independence
The new legislation means a loss of the UK’s regulatory independence, particularly regarding the rest of world imports. Previously, imports from outside the EU had simplified procedures for low-risk goods under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). But with the UK aligning with EU SPS measures, it could mean tighter controls on imports for non-EU countries, such as exporting food from the UK to the USA. For businesses, the agreement could mean reduced costs and admin to import to and from the EU and UK, but if they also trade with non-EU countries, this could impact the trade with these countries.
Biosecurity
While the reduction of SPS checks streamlines EU and UK trade, it may mean a limit to the UK’s autonomy to set its own food standards. The reduction in physical inspections could expose the UK to a higher risk of invasive pests, especially for flower and potted plant imports. The reduction of veterinary checks could potentially increase the risk of animal-borne diseases being imported, and with the reduced access to EU-level surveillance systems that the UK had before Brexit, it could mean delays in detecting biohazards.
How TIMOCOM can support exports and imports between UK and EU
For businesses transporting fishing, farming, and flower exports and imports between the UK and EU, TIMOCOM helps overcome logistical challenges of post-Brexit trade. Particularly for countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, TIMOCOM provides freight forwarders post-Brexit admin support, including customs clearance. TIMOCOM’s freight exchange also has over 55,000 vetted and trusted business partners across Europe and the UK, giving peace of mind that your business is in reliable hands.
When London wholesaler of Czech and Slovak brands, Swara, had problems when their Slovak transporter stopped sending trucks to the UK due to additional paperwork, they started using TIMOCOM. They posted a job, and within a few hours, they had six replies with competitive rates to choose from. They continue to use TIMOCOM to save time and money, to help with customs clearance, and to help with UK customs allowances from EU.
How to register and test TIMOCOM
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- Firstly, you fill in your company registration details and a contact person.
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How to post loads
You can do this manually or by using TIMOCOM AI. For example, you can also generate freight offers by uploading PDFs into the marketplace and use the generate button to autofill the details. To do this manually, simply include relevant information in the marketplace, such as the weight, date of pickup, required vehicle, and location to post your load. To search for loads, you simply search for suitable freight. You can use filters to quickly find the right transport.
You can submit a quote for any load and build relationships by using the TIMOCOM closed freight exchange to speed up your processes. This enables you to show offers to only your trusted group of transport partners. You can also use TIMOCOM AI to automatically fill in information for you. If you have an email transport request, you can copy and paste the email text into the marketplace and use the generate button to automatically fill in the details such as freight description, vehicle type, location, and other details.
How to connect with transport partners
To contact partners, you can also use our communication channel in our freight exchange, TIMOCOM’s messenger. This allows you to communicate directly about offers quickly and securely. For post-Brexit trade support, get your free trial of TIMOCOM. Expand your market and build relationships with partners all over Europe and the UK today.
Tram Trinh Thanh
TIMOCOM Marketing Northern Europe, Benelux and UK
