New post-Brexit border checks which come into effect today will lead to increased food prices, ministers have been warned.
Millions of products face document checks coming into the UK for the first time, with critics branding the plans "horrendous and chaotic". It is forecast that the new red tape will cost firms £330million a year - costs that are expected to be passed to consumers.
MPs heard this means an extra £8 a month through what is dubbed a " Brexit border tax". The new requirements apply to animal and plant products coming from the EU, with importers required to provide physical, documentary and identity checks at the border.
Labour MP Stella Creasy told the Commons: "Whether you supported or opposed Brexit nothing being proposed here is inevitable or unavoidable. Having left the EU we do need border controls, but what is being proposed won't be controlled, it will be chaos." The MP for Walthamstow said the proposed measures amounted to a "Brexit border tax".
She told the Commons: "From Wednesday for the first time, 2.7 million lorries will need to be stopped at Dover so their contents can be checked and another four million will require a health certificate for the animal products they carry. On top of this five million of them will have to pay a common user charge for the privilege of importing goods deemed medium or high risk - whether or not they're inspected.
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"The costs to business, which we know will be passed onto consumers, are horrendous and chaotic, these charges only being confirmed on April 18. The Government has admitted that this will cause inflation but they claim it's only £300 million over 0.2% over three years, independent analysis shows it will be ten times that, or £8 a month on the average food shop."
Ms Creasy added: "With 36 hours to go we need some straight answers. Our constituents can't eat the paperwork this will create, nor afford the price rises it will increase." The Government claims the increased checks will help protect about outbreaks such as foot and mouth disease.
Phil Pluck, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, warned: "Restaurants, delicatessens, fish and chip shops could well be affected by what's currently happening today and the consumer, in the very near future will start to see some of those food products going up in price."
Defra Minister Sir Mark Spencer said: "For low risk goods there is a £10 charge for those products, capped at a maximum of five products, so the maximum you could have on a low-risk product lorry load would be £50.
"(Ms Creasy) is right in that we have calculated that over three years we think that will lead to about 0.2% on food inflation, if you compare that to the cost of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, which cost this country £12 billion, not alone, the impact that would have on international trade and our reputation as a country, I think it is a small price to pay for making sure that we are safe and protected."
The Government has previously said an outbreak of African Swine Fever would be a "fundamental threat to the viability" of the UK's pig industry. While Britain is free of African Swine Fever, it is widespread in some other parts of the world, including both EU and non-EU countries on the European Continent.
Shadow Defra minister Daniel Zeichner described the plans as a "mess", and questioned if the checks would have the necessary funding to protect against diseases. He said: "Here we are on April 29 with the new checks being introduced tomorrow and the businesses involved unclear on how the system's supposed to operate."
He added: "It's baffling that in the battle against (African) Swine flu at Dover, the minister is taking away vital funding." Sir Mark replied: "If you tried to do something illegal then of course you will be picked up by border force, at the port of Dover via inspection and by intelligence led inspection. (Mr Zeichner) said there's no money when actually we are in conversation with the port of Dover to resolve that."
A Government spokesman said: “Our robust analysis has shown they will have minimal impact on food prices and consumers, with just a 0.2 percentage point increase on food prices over the next three years.
“The cost of checks is negligible compared to the impact of a major disease outbreak, such as Foot and Mouth disease in 2001 which cost businesses and our wider economy more than £12.8 billion in 2022 prices.”