According to an analysis by the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Certification Working Group, UK food companies exporting animal-derived products to the European Union have lost 170 million pounds ($214.4 million) in additional spending since Brexit to secure veterinary checks and export health certificates (EHCs).

Following the UK's ultimate withdrawal from the European single market on January 1, 2021, the European Union requires UK exporters of animal-sourced food to have their cargo examined by veterinarians before accessing the EU market.

Since December 2020, UK food exporters have asked for over 852,000 export health certifications for fish, meat, and dairy goods, each costing over 200 pounds, according to the report.

According to The Guardian, exporters have spent more than 58 million pounds on this additional expenditure in the last year, placing a lot of strain on UK food firms, particularly small ones, and is being described as "catastrophic" for some exporters.

Peter Hardwick, trade adviser for the British Meat Processors Association states that this strain has been "terminal," explaining that it is terminal not in the sense that their business has ended but rather that exporting "just not worth their while" anymore.

According to the official, larger corporations either make very small profits or raise consumer costs.

Karin Goodburn, director general of the Chilled Food Association, stated that the certificates were only one component of the costs faced by firms and that the total amount would be far higher when new IT systems, administration costs, and more staff were taken into account. 

Goodburn stated “We’ve had companies employ extra staff to do the new bureaucracy, one of my members had to employ 30 new staff just to shift the paperwork.” 

Last Thursday, the UK Office for National Statistics reported a 17% reduction in UK beef exports to the European market in 2023 compared to export volumes in 2019.

In 2016, 51.8% of UK voters elected to exit the EU, while 48.1% voted to stay.