The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) and Union Fleurs has represented UK and EU horticulture at joint meetings of their respective Domestic Advisory Groups (DAG) and Civil Society Forums (CSF).
These groups play a key role in advising on the impacts and opportunities of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) across various sectors and will be crucial in shaping the upcoming SPS negotiations.
Their insights and recommendations help ensure that the needs of the horticulture and floriculture sectors are recognised and addressed.
The DAG and CSF meetings are being held at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London and take place just a month after the EU and UK Leaders’ Summit, which confirmed an agreement to negotiate a comprehensive Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement. This agreement aims to lift trade barriers between the UK, Northern Ireland, and the EU for plants, flowers, trees, bulbs, seeds, and other related products. It is the result of close partnership working across the HTA, Union Fleurs, VGB, ENA, and Royal Anthos. While the final details are yet to be negotiated, many representatives from international, EU, and UK sectors have warmly welcomed the ambition to resume trade and the prospect that unnecessary checks, delays, and costs will be removed.
Jennifer Pheasey, Director of Public Affairs at the HTA, commented: “The DAG is a valuable forum in which we can continue to raise the profile of the impact of the current SPS arrangement of the EU-UK TCA on horticultural trade. The common understanding of a new SPS arrangement is hugely positive and cannot come soon enough. As we outlined at the DAG meeting, we call on both sides to negotiate the final details swiftly and offer our continued support to ensure that the needs of UK horticulture are understood and met.
“The HTA welcomes the close and continued partnership with our sister associations, and we look forward to being able to work even more closely to maximise the opportunities on the horizon for UK and EU horticulture and floriculture.”
Sylvie Mamias, Union Fleurs Secretary General, said: “Together with the HTA, European associations of the sector and national member organisations, Union Fleurs has deployed intensive efforts over the years to bring the attention of EU and UK policymakers to the cross-border challenges and trade frictions impeding the movement of highly perishables and sensitive flowers and plants between the EU and the UK since 2021. The common understanding towards an SPS Agreement announced last month at the high-level EU-UK Summit promises to help streamline trade flows.
“We will continue to advocate and offer our support and sector-specific knowledge at every stakeholder platform, such as the DAG and CSF, to ensure that policymakers swiftly deliver on these commitments and that floriculture and horticulture businesses on both sides can benefit as early as possible from a concrete and operational EU-UK SPS agreement.”
