The government is falling behind in the race to replicate the European Union’s existing network of free trade agreements for use by the UK after Brexit, trade groups and leading analysts have warned.

Liam Fox, the International Trade secretary, promised in October that the UK would replicate up to 40 of the EU trade deals to be ready for “one second after midnight” on March 29, 2019 to ensure that there was “no disruption” to trade.

However, trade groups are privately raising alarm bells over the practicality of “rolling over” the EU agreements into bilateral UK deals, warning of a shortage of capacity in Whitehall to tackle what is turning out to be an increasingly complicated issue.

“There is a lot of work of to do, and we are getting worried that deals are slipping between the cracks in Whitehall, particularly of less high-profile countries,” said a senior Brexit co-ordinator from one institution, which asked not to be named to preserve its relations with Mr Fox’s department.

The source singled out agreements with South Africa, Turkey, Chile, Mexico and Algeria and Algeria as of greatest risk of receiving insufficient attention, given the shortage of bureaucratic bandwidth in Whitehall and the emerging complexities of replicating the deals.