This week's Brexit downsides: half a billion in extra costs to import food, the collapse of trade talks with Canada and more.

Business chiefs say new red tape could reduce shelf life of fresh produce by one-fifth. / A group representing 30 major business bodies said the new requirement to notify the British authorities a day before European goods are sent would lead to big delays.

The price of many fruits and vegetables on sale in the UK is predicted to rise again when new post-Brexit import controls are introduced later this year.

NFU warns blanket import checks from April could fuel long delays and damage future crops. / The UK’s fruit and flower growers face an “existential threat” from new post-Brexit border checks that could damage business and affect next year’s crops, the country’s biggest farming body has said.

The European Council, representing the EU's 27 member countries, said it adopted the New Zealand pact, setting it up come into force "probably in early 2024" once Wellington ratifies it.

Proposed restrictions on post-Brexit trade will pile costs onto consumers, representatives of the UK’s fresh produce industry warned.

The Fresh Produce Consortium said the April draft proposals would have had a “devastating financial impact”.

A family farm that has been producing soft fruits for 75 years has said rising costs have forced it to stop growing berries. / "Many of them had come to us for years, they knew it was a good place to work," Ms Starkey said. "But with Brexit it became more difficult and they just did not feel welcome."

Exports of fruit from the UK to the EU, including traditional English apples and pears, have more than halved since Brexit, according to data released by HMRC.

HMRC figures analysed by accountancy firm Hazlewoods indicates major decline in fruit sales to EU countries following introduction of trade barriers.

Critical industry leaders have accused Home Secretary Suella Braverman of being disconnected from the realities facing short staffed sectors after she claimed that there is "no good reason" why more British people can't be trained to take up jobs as butchers and fruit pickers.

Could take ‘decades’ to shift away from reliance on overseas staff, say food sector leaders attending Downing Street summit.

The rationing of fruit and vegetables by supermarkets "could last for weeks" an expert has warned - but shelves in Europe are "heaving" with fresh produce.

Iceland's boss says a dearth of fruit and vegetables in stores is due to climate change, but a European country's minister suggests other factors are also at play - saying: "Brexit was not a great deal."

Smoothie maker Innocent Drinks has fallen into the red after splurging on a new purpose-built factory in the EU post-Brexit.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said the British government can't force people to do specific jobs. / The exchange came as MPs were asking the environment secretary how farmers can get more labourers to work in fields to prevent food rotting in fields.

OPENING a bag of newly bought salad leaves to find an unpleasant hint of slime, or finding those beautiful purple plums you bought as a healthy treat never “ripen at home” but instead turn into a fusty mush after a week of stubborn rock-hard tastelessness, is an increasingly common experience.

BREXIT is to blame for conditions that caused a Scottish blueberry farmer to donate his £3 million crop to charity, according to an SNP MP. / Peter Thomson, who has around 60 acres of blueberry bushes on his farm in Blairgowrie, announced that it was no longer economically worthwhile for him to harvest the crop due to the value of the fruit falling by around £1 million this year.

Brexit-induced labour shortages are going to be a limiting factor in the pursuit of growth, growth, growth

In this film, senior FT writers and British businesspeople examine how Brexit hit the UK economy, the political conspiracy of silence, and why there has not yet been a convincing case for a 'Brexit dividend'.

National Farmers Union calls for post-Brexit rules on seasonal workers to be eased to plug gaps.

Kent farming giant reports 8% fall in harvest due to lack of seasonal pickers – saying it’s easier to import fruit.

Kent farming giant reports 8% fall in harvest due to lack of seasonal pickers – saying it’s easier to import fruit.

A recent government report warned that labour shortages "caused by Brexit and accentuated by the pandemic" were badly affecting our food and farming sector, with fruit suppliers often forced to leave produce rotting in the fields.