Retailers and producers call on Brussels to cut checks on food and drink exports

More than a dozen of Britain's biggest retailers and food producers, including Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury and Asda, have called on the EU to reduce checks on food and drink crossing the Channel and Irish Sea, which they say are costing them billions of pounds.

- Sarah Butler

Ahead of a summit on 19 May that is hoped to "reset" trade ties five years on from Brexit, they are urging politicians to hammer out a deal on sanitary and phytosanitary checks. They hope this will include a veterinary agreement and harmonise food safety rules or recognise them as equivalent.

In a letter to Maroš Šefčovič, the European commissioner for trade and economic security, seen by the Guardian, the 13 companies said "unnecessary red tape" since Brexit had added £2bn to costs. Signatories include Morrisons, Lidl, Ocado, the sandwich makers Greencore and Samworth Brothers as well as the food firms Cranswick and 2 Sisters.

The letter sent this week and first reported by the Financial Times said the rules on moving food and drink had "made it harder to supply the widest range of products at the best possible price to domestic and international markets".