Dear All,
Detailed below is the Weekly News for 22 November.
Have a good week.
Gordon Polson – Chief Executive
FoB Chief Executives Weekly News for 22th November 2021
Barclays Economic Update: UK Output Producer Price Inflation Increased to 8.0% During the 12-Months to Oct’21
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), output producer price inflation (PPI) increased to 8.0% during the 12-months to oct’21, from 7.0% during the 12-months to sep’21. This was the highest annual rate of output inflation recorded since sep’11. Meanwhile, the monthly output PPI stood at 1.1% in oct’21. This was an increase from 0.7% sep’21.
The input PPI rate increased to 13.0% during the 12-months to oct’21 from 11.9% during the 12-months to sep’21. Crude oil provided the largest upward contribution to the change in the annual input PPI in oct’21 at 0.87 percentage points. Meanwhile, the monthly input PPI stood at 1.4% in oct’21. This was an increase from 0.8% sep’21.
Of the 10 product groups, 6 displayed upward contributions to the change in the annual output PPI in oct’21, with petroleum products providing the largest at 0.49 percentage points. The second largest upward contribution came from food products at 0.24 percentage points, with an annual growth rate increasing from 3.0% in sep’21 to 4.0% in oct’21. This was driven by preserved meat and meat products for the domestic market.
Made in the UK, Sold to the World: The UK government launched their new plan, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ to help businesses across the UK to increase exports and sell their products in international markets.
The 12-point export strategy, published by the Department for International Trade (DIT), is expected to equip businesses with the tools that will help them increase their exports and receive benefits of free trade deals. ‘
The export strategy includes an export support service to provide exporting advice to businesses. furthermore, a new UK tradeshow programme will also be launched to help businesses (particularly those outside London and the South East) to promote their products around the world.
Consultation to reform the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
The Government is seeking views on proposals for a reformed AHDB to deliver greater accountability to levy payers and engage with them on sector work programmes. These programmes aim to deliver good value for money and meet the needs and demands of industry. Importantly, the proposed changes respect the overall outcome of the ballot in the horticulture and potato sectors in GB to end the levy in these two sectors from next financial year (April 2022). Read more here
Labour market survey
The aim of this survey is to collect up-to-date, accurate and representative data on the current state of the labour market in key sectors of the UK economy. To ensure that survey findings remain up-to-date this survey is sent out weekly and we ask that you continue to complete it each week. To make this easier, the survey has been kept very short and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. This week’s survey will run from Friday 19 November (today) until Thursday 25 November.
Your contributions to this survey are highly valued and will directly inform assessments of the supply of labour. Findings will be used to brief senior officials and Ministers. We encourage you to continue flagging any key concerns to support decision making.
Due to the sensitivity of this data this survey is completely anonymous and we will not be sharing the raw data outside of central government. Any presentation or use of the data will only be across government.
Codex Alimentarius Commission
It has been announced that UK candidate, Steve Wearne, Director for Global Affairs at the Food Standards Agency, has been elected the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission 2021-2024. Read more here.
Reminders: Import controls
Introduction of import controls from 1 July 2022
In September, the Government announced full EU to GB sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import controls would begin on 1 July 2022.
In line with this, full SPS import controls will be introduced by commodity group for animal products, plant and plant products, and phased in from 1 July 2022 to 1 November 2022.
Timeline for phasing in of controls on SPS imports
Import controls will be introduced in three phases:
From 1 July 2022
All certification, physical and identity checks will be introduced for:
- All remaining regulated animal by-products
- All lower risk plants and plant products
- All meat and meat products
- All remaining high-risk food not of animal origin
From 1 September 2022
- Certification and physical checks will be introduced for dairy products.
From 1 November 2022
- Certification and physical checks will be introduced for all remaining products of animal origin, including composite products and fish products.
From 1 July 2022, checks on high-priority plants and plant products will transfer from place of destination to designated BCPs and control points.
Live animal physical checks will take place at designated border control posts where a facility is operational at the point of entry. Where there is no designated BCP, checks will remain at destination for other points of entry until sufficient BCPs are operational. Checks at Sevington inland BCP and designated airport BCPs will commence from 1 July 2022.
Please see the FAQ document for more information.
Trade webinars on new import requirements from January 2022
Requirements for importing products of animal origin and animal by-products come into force from 1 January 2022. To support you with preparing for these changes, we will be hosting webinars from November 2021. There will be a short Q&A session at the end of each webinar.
Webinars
| Date | Time | Links |
| Tuesday 23 November 2021 | 10.00 – 11.00 | Click to join |
| Tuesday 30 November 2021 | 10.00 – 11.00 | Click to join |
| Tuesday 7 December 2021 | 10.00 – 11.00 | Click to join |
Key information and guidance is available on our microsite and on the Gov.uk webpages. If you cannot find the information you need, please contact: traders@defra.gov.uk
Marketing standards
The following GOV.UK pages have been updated to reflect the introduction of Marketing Standards controls for EU imports coming into effect from July to November 2022: