Food industry leaders have urged the UK and European Union (EU) policy makers to make swift progress on Brexit trade negotiations.
FoodDrinkEurope and the UK Food and Drink Federation have issued a joint statement on the progress of talks, ahead of the European Council meeting to be held on 14 to 15 December.
Both FoodDrinkEurope and FDF have welcomed the progress made, the momentum that has been created and also the positive tone of the talks till date regarding the negotiations carried out for the upcoming Brexit event.
The associations are urging members of the European Council to comply with the European Commission recommendation that sufficient progress has been made to move on to the next stage of negotiations over Brexit.
FoodDrinkEurope and FDF, in their statement, said: “The food and drink industry on both sides of the Channel now calls on policy makers for swift progress on both future trade relations and the transition period to generate more certainty, as negotiations enter the next phase.
“This means keeping the 'status quo' for as long as necessary, allowing existing trade and customs arrangements to continue largely unchanged until a new trade agreement enters into force.”
FoodDrinkEurope and FDF represent the food and beverage manufacturing sectors in the EU and the UK respectively. The associations stated that they are looking ahead to contribute more to the Brexit negotiations and also study the areas which will require clarification in the second stage.
FoodDrinkEurope, with a permanent secretariat in Brussels in Belgium, keeps close contacts with European and global institutions while being an important partner in consultations on all matters concerning the food and drink industry in Europe.
On the other hand, FDF considers itself to be the voice of the UK food and drink industry with an objective to help its members operate in a suitably regulated marketplace to make the most of their competitiveness.
