On June 23-24, the Horticultural Trades Association and Union Fleurs represented United Kingdom and European Union horticulture at joint meetings of their respective Domestic Advisory Groups and Civil Society Forums. These groups play a key role in advising on the impacts and opportunities of the U.K.-E.U. Trade and Cooperation Agreement across various sectors and will be crucial in shaping the upcoming Sanitary and Phytosanitary negotiations. Their insights and recommendations help ensure that the needs of the horticulture and floriculture sectors are recognized and addressed.

The DAG and CSF meetings were held at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London and take place just a month after the E.U. and U.K. 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, E.U., and U.K. sectors have warmly welcomed the ambition to resume trade and the prospect that unnecessary checks, delays and costs will be removed.

“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 E.U.-U.K. 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,” said Jennifer Pheasey, director of public affairs at the HTA. “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 maximize the opportunities on the horizon for U.K. and E.U. horticulture and floriculture.”

“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 E.U. and U.K. policymakers to the cross-border challenges and trade frictions impeding the movement of highly perishables and sensitive flowers and plants between the E.U. and the U.K. since 2021. The common understanding towards an SPS Agreement announced last month at the high-level E.U.-U.K. Summit promises to help streamline trade flows,” said Sylvie Mamias, Union Fleurs secretary general. “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 E.U.-U.K. SPS agreement.”