The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is urging businesses that export meat products to the EU to register to ensure they are approved for export in the event of a no deal Brexit.

If we leave the EU on March 31 without a Withdrawal Agreement in place with the EU, the UK will have to register as a third country in order to export products of animal origin to the EU. One of the big concerns about a potential no deal Brexit is that this process will effectively impose an embargo on this vital EU trade.

The FSA has been writing to Food Business Operators that currently export products of animal origin into the EU urging them to apply to register for export approval. The agency extended the deadline after the original deadline passed with low uptake - it is understood that only a quarter of businesses responded.

Businesses not included in the list will be ineligible to export.The FSA will continue to accept applications, although any delays in responding may mean that businesses are not on the EU’s approved list on day.

You can view the letter here

“It is essential that those businesses look at this letter and consider what action is required," the NFU said. "If the UK leaves the EU without a deal in place, only businesses that have been included in a list of premises approved by the EU for export will be eligible to continue exporting. The sooner businesses respond to the FSA the better."

Producers are being urged to ask their processors whether they have seen the letter and have responded to the FSA. However, the letter does not require farmers themselves to be registered, unless they process and produce food products and have been approved by either the FSA or a local authority.