UK food industry says lack of testing capacity forcing imports back to EU for checks

The Sevington border control post in Ashford, Kent, serves imports coming through Dover. It is the UK’s only 24/7 border post Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Imported food coming into the UK through Brexit border posts is being sent back to Europe to be tested due to a lack of laboratory capacity in Britain, food bodies have said.

The SPS Certification Working Group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn worth of the UK’s food supply, has written to the government warning that members are being advised that some samples of imported foods are being sent to countries such as Germany to be tested before they can be released at the border.