The European Union and the United Kingdom have concluded the Brexit 'sausage wars' by revealing the first details of a new food export agreement, which the UK government has published.

The agreement means there will be no paperwork or physical checks on milk, fish, cheese, eggs, and fresh red meat from 2027 summer for both UK exporters to the EU and EU exporters to the UK.

It will also significantly ease the burden on supermarkets and food manufacturers selling in Northern Ireland under the Windsor trade deals.

When the rules come into force, meat exporters – whether fresh, frozen, or processed – will no longer require veterinary certificates to prove they meet EU standards. Similarly, no such documentation will be needed for plants or wood packaging materials. Businesses selling in Northern Ireland will no longer require health labels.

While not all details of the agreement are finalized, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published guidance to help producers prepare for the changes.

The announcement may also help demonstrate early progress in the stalled UK-EU გადატვირთვის talks, which have been delayed by disagreements over the youth mobility scheme.

BioSecurity Minister Suella Braverman said the agreement is "great news for businesses of all sizes in the UK's food and drink industry," including the estimated 16,000 companies that have stopped exporting to the EU due to excessive bureaucracy since Brexit.

She added: "By reducing unnecessary delays and paperwork at the border, the agreement will make it easier for businesses to sell our world-class produce to European consumers, support jobs, and help ease pressure on food prices for families."

The changes include rules on food additives and dyes, animal breeding certificates, pesticides, vaccination residues, organic products, and farm feed.

Although the UK has not implemented full checks at the border on the assumption that EU food is certified to standards, the EU has implemented paperwork checks on 100% of UK imports and physical checks on 30% of imports.

The agreement is also expected to check "the rest of the world" products coming into the UK, such as African fruits, except for a transitional period for some fungicides approved by the UK government since Brexit but not yet approved by the EU.

The government said it expects the agreement to "add £5.1 billion to the economy annually, support UK jobs, and reduce the red tape for British farmers, producers, and businesses."

It added that "the agreement is expected to begin in mid-2027, and wants businesses in the agriculture and food sector to start preparing now."

Health certificates, which could cost up to £200 per shipment, were not required until after the UK left the EU in 2020, but have since contributed to a "paperwork hell" for food producers and transport firms.

Toby Owen, managing director of Broughton Transport Solutions, told the Business and Trade Committee in January that his company now needed 26 sheets of paperwork – just one before Brexit – to prove to French authorities in Calais that the beef he was transporting met EU standards.

He said trucks carrying frozen beef could be detained for a month if one document was incorrect.

Describing an episode of "pure hell," he recalled how a UK vet had to chase a truck on the M25 to the Eurotunnel to provide replacement certificates after French officials rejected forms issued by the UK government proving that the cargo was not from BSE-infected cattle.

Ben Fletcher, CEO of Logistics UK, which represents freight owners such as supermarket distributors, said the agreement is "common sense" about "significant time and money" the industry had to spend on new food transportation to the UK.

Negotiations on the agreement have been ongoing since the end of last year and are expected to be completed by the next EU-UK summit, scheduled for July 13.

Lady Braverman said: "We are working hand-in-hand with food and agriculture businesses across the country to make the most of this opportunity, and we want all UK producers – whether they currently trade with or without the EU – to be ready to benefit from the opportunities this agreement will open up."