Show caption Michael Gove said farmers were right to be worried about the impact of a no-deal Brexit. Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Michael Gove No-deal Brexit will raise food prices, says Michael Gove Environment secretary tells MPs that friction and disruption between Dover and Calais would increase food prices Sandra Laville Wed 19 Dec 2018 12.09 EST Share on Facebook

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Food prices will rise in the event of a no-deal Brexit as friction on the border and tariffs cause rising costs for the British public, Michael Gove said.

The environment secretary, under questioning by MPs on the environmental audit committee, attempted to reassure farmers that there would be no mass slaughter of sheep in queues at UK ports such as Dover, because of delays created by a no-deal Brexit.

About 4,000 sheep are exported to Europe each year for slaughter, and concerns have been raised that 20-mile queues of lorries at ports could lead to the government having to carry out a mass slaughter of livestock held in lorries.

But the environment secretary said this was one of the more “lurid” scenarios and denied that he was in talks with the army to prepare for such a slaughter. “We are not going to have a mass slaughter of lambs and sheep in lorries en route to EU member states,” he told MPs.

But he said farmers were right to be worried about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, given the delays and frictions it would create on the border and the tariffs they would be subject to, which would hit livestock and food producers significantly.

Asked by Philip Dunne, Conservative MP for Ludlow, if no deal would increase food prices for consumers, given the UK imports half its food, Gove said the existence of additional checks at the border in a no-deal scenario and tariff barriers would affect prices.

“If you have friction and disruption – and we are trying to minimise that – between Dover and Calais, then the ability to get food, particularly perishable items on to the market, will be impeded,” he said. “That is likely to drive some price increases. It is also the case that some of the alternative routes by which food will reach our shores will add additional costs, for example Spanish produce being rerouted … rather than going through Dover/Calais can increase costs.

“So I do think there is a real risk in the event of a no deal of price spikes in certain foodstuffs.”

Gove said he was confident the UK would be granted third country status in the event of no deal, as a result of informal conversations he had had with EU actors. “But the granting of third country status doesn’t mean that all concerns disappear,” he said.

All products of animal origin would need to go through border inspection posts if the UK has third country status, but none have yet been set up in Calais.

The EU could also impose 100% checks on imports from the UK as a third country, which would create more friction at the border. “And there will also be tariffs that will particularly badly hit livestock farmers and food producers,” he said. “So whilst I am confident that we can secure third party status I think farmers are right to be concerned about the consequences of a no deal.”

Exports of plastic and other waste could also be hit by tariffs of 12%, or even refused and left to stockpile in the UK if the EU decides they do not meet their quality standards.

The UK exports 91% of its recyclable waste, and Gove admitted that this would be subject to tariffs of 12% in the event of no deal if the UK was granted third country status. The EU could also raise its standards to refuse UK waste – like China did last year – which effectively ended imports of plastic waste from the UK and other countries, raising concerns about stockpiling