Fertiliser Trade and the Strait of Hormuz’ Blockade: How does it impact UK food security?

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to international shipping. An average of 129 ships travelled through the Strait during February. This number dramatically dropped to 4 by the beginning of March. Despite positive signals from President Trump that a peaceful resolution to reopen this vital shipping route might be imminent, it is likely that the effects of disruption will last for several months even when the Strait reopens. This blog argues that the disruption to international shipping has consequences for the UK beyond its impact on rising energy prices. The blockade also affects UK food security by disrupting fertiliser trade. One way to address such problems for the future is by incorporating more comprehensive export restrictions rules and sustainable food systems chapters into the UK’s new free trade agreements. The UK also has an opportunity to show global leadership by building a consensus among countries to limit the use of export restrictions during the current crisis. In doing so, it can ease the impacts on vulnerable people in least-developed countries. The Gulf conflict restricts trade in fertilisers Fertilisers are a key input into global food production. They renew essential nutrients in the soil, like nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and potassium, [...]

By |2026-05-27T07:16:54+01:0027 May 2026|Blog, International Trade|0 Comments
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Non-regression on environmental protection: Making sense of the REUL Bill

16 June 2023 Chloe Anthony, Doctoral Researcher at University of Sussex Law School and Legal Researcher for the UK Environmental Law Association’s Governance and Devolution Group. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is part of the Government’s ‘Brexit opportunities’ agenda. It is currently in its final stages in Parliament, going back and forth between the Houses, in a debate on the inclusion of clauses that aim to safeguard parliamentary scrutiny and prevent the lowering of environmental protections. It returns to the Commons on 20 June. […]

By |2025-01-29T15:26:15+00:0016 June 2023|Blog, UK- EU|1 Comment
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Cutting tariffs on food products: why bother?

6 May 2022 L. Alan Winters is Professor of Economics at University of Sussex Business School and Founding Director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory and Guillermo Larbalestier is Research Assistant in International Trade at the University of Sussex and Fellow of the UKTPO. The concept is simple: cut tariffs levied on food imports so the products become cheaper in the UK, right? In this blog, we look at the trade data and discuss the reasons why changing tariffs would hardly affect prices.[1] Only a small proportion of imports pay tariffs. In 2021, the UK imported £38.6 billion of food products[2] (equivalent to 7.6% of the UK’s total imports that year and about 46% of UK food consumption). Approximately 66% come from the EU and are already exempt from tariffs under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).[3] […]

By , |2025-07-18T09:40:40+01:006 May 2022|Blog, UK - Non EU, UK- EU|1 Comment
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Finding the benefits of Brexit: food law and the UK’s emerging regulatory identity

10 March 2022 Emily Lydgate is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex and Chloe Anthony is a Doctoral Researcher and Tutor at the University of Sussex Law School  From chlorinated chicken to sausage wars, food law has been highly contested in defining the UK’s post-Brexit direction. Not only is it seen as vulnerable to deregulation through trade agreements, the UK has faced new trade barriers with the EU and between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. These have concerned regulatory issues and have had an enormous impact on food trade. While much attention has rightly focused on Northern Ireland, departure from the EU’s regulatory union has provided a steep challenge in the rest of Great Britain, too. Food law is a devolved matter and Scotland has passed legislation setting out its intent to continue aligning with EU law, including for food law. […]

By , |2025-07-18T09:45:11+01:0010 March 2022|UK- EU|2 Comments
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The impact of Brexit on cross-channel trade and the practical challenges facing the UK economy post-Brexit

26 October 2017   Nicolo Tamberi is Research Assistant for the UKTPO and Charlotte Humma is the UKTPO’s business manager. Leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union will require the implementation of new border controls between the UK and the EU that will surely increase transport time and therefore costs. However minimal they may be, these new procedures will negatively affect trade between the two parties. According to a study by EY, Economic footprint of the Channel Tunnel fixed link, trade between Folkestone and Calais via the Eurotunnel was estimated to be £91.4 billion or 24.8% of trade with the EU in 2014. Goods transported through the Channel Tunnel are exported from and imported to every region of the UK. Today, transporting things from one shore to the other requires minimal controls such as those that exist between Surrey and Somerset. Businesses on both sides of the channel increase their efficiency by integrating their supply chains and by relying on the prompt connection across the channel. So, what about Brexit? If one thing is clear in the impenetrable mist surrounding the future UK-EU relations, it is that exiting the Single Market and the Customs Union will require increased border controls. [...]

By , |2026-01-28T14:50:22+00:0026 October 2017|UK- EU|1 Comment
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