The EU exports over 3.2 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables to the UK yearly, representing 40 percent of the UK’s internal demand. The staged introduction of UK controls is also helping the sector to adapt to new border customs and phytosanitary checks. So far this has prevented the “worst-case scenario’ of chaos and long lines at the EU-UK border affecting the quality of perishable trade. However, the sector is already facing significant additional costs through the need for new operational procedures, inspections and bureaucracy.