Fresh produce could be left rotting at the border if heavy customs controls for EU goods are put in place after Brexit, the chief executive of Sainsbury's has warned.
Chief executive Mike Coupe told the Press Association that "detrimental" border disruptions would impact the food supply chain.
European supply chains are a key part of delivering the goods that UK consumers buy every day. The majority of those goods are ones that need to be transported quickly, particularly food.
Mr Coupe said he will make the retail sector's voice heard "strongly" during Brexit negotiations to minimise risks to the supply chain.
“The UK sources roughly a third of its food from the European Union and food is by far and away the UK’s largest export,” he told the Press Association.
“If you take our fresh produce supply chains, for example, we put things on a lorry in Spain and it will arrive in a distribution centre somewhere in England, and it won’t have gone through any border checks.
“Anything that encumbers that has two effects: it adds cost, and it also has a detrimental effect on freshness – if you’re shipping fresh produce from a long distance, even a few hours of delay can make a material impact.”
'Complexity and scale'
The warning comes a week after the British Retail Consortium said that the lack of Brexit border controls is risking disruption for UK supply chains.
The group said there needs to be wider recognition of the "complexity and scale" of the challenge pertaining to future customs controls.
It said there needs to be significant investment required in the UK’s ports, roads and infrastructure to get "systems ready" for Brexit, and a suite of new agreements supplementing customs necessary to side-step additional red tape at ports and docks and prevent delays to goods.
The BRC said this means the UK needs a system of controls after Brexit which ensures that products can continue to be imported without delays, disruption or additional costs, which would affect availability on the shelves, increase waste and push prices up.
'Not fully recognised'
Indeed, Mr Coupe said Westminster has "not fully recognised" the consequences of supply chain dysfunction.
He warned that food producers will "make the point very strongly" if it gets nearer to March 2019 and a solution has not been found.
The warning comes as a report released in July from three leading food security experts said food could be "seriously undermined" by leaving the EU.
It says the Government has shown little sign of addressing the issues, accusing ministers of "an astonishing act of political irresponsibility".
It accusses them of becoming complacement after decades of consistency with food and farming.
