Concerns have been raised by farm leaders as the government is set to delay the introduction of checks on food imports from the EU for a fifth time.
New controls on UK meat exports to the bloc came into force following Brexit, but promised equivalent checks in the UK have been repeatedly delayed.
The government's decision to suspend plans to enforce the controls is due to be announced imminently, according to media reports
In April last year, the government said it would not be introducing any checks until a new digital system was in place.
It announced that the draft Border Target Operating Model would be phased in over the course of a year.
This would see the introduction of health certification on imports of medium risk animal and plant products from 31 October, with further checks implemented over the following 12 months.
But, according to reports, this is going to be delayed for the fifth time, with the decision due to be announced imminently.
It is expected these checks will now be pushed back to the end of January 2024, when physical SPS checks are due to become operational.
The delay is intended to give the government and exporters in the EU more time to prepare for the checks, but, as reports state, it sets Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘on a collision course with domestic UK food producers’.
The food and farming industry have long argued that it gives a free pass to EU rivals while they have to endure checks on all fresh food exports.
Government insiders told the media that the driving force behind the move is the need to bear down on inflation, as the checks will impose ‘additional costs at the border’.
The National Pig Association (NPA) called the news 'hugely frustrating' for the UK pig sector.
Chief executive, Lizzie Wilson said: “While our members have been burdened with the cost and inconvenience of additional checks on EU exports since January 2021, the failure to impose equivalent EU checks is unfair and puts UK food producers at a significant disadvantage.
“But, more importantly, we need robust checks in place at our borders to protect the UK pig herd from African swine fever, a disease present and currently spreading in a number of EU countries that we trade with.
"The cost savings of delaying these checks would pale into insignificance compared with the massive costs of an ASF outbreak.”
The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) said the news would be "of little comfort" to farmers, many of whom had to "comply with a plethora of regulations and checks in order to export their goods."
"We have an uneven playing field that greatly favours EU businesses, and now the UK government has extended this advantage again," said FUW president, Ian Rickman.
He added that farmers and many processors were 'extremely angry' that the UK government had failed to prepare properly for its own hard Brexit policy.
“We should not be in a situation where we are limping from extension to extension because of a lack of planning and foresight by government, while UK businesses are suffering unfair competition as a result."
