Forcing all UK supermarkets to put “not for EU” labels on meat, dairy and plant products in a move to assuage the concerns of unionists in Northern Ireland will force up prices and undermine the war against inflation, ministers have been told.

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

It comes after a former environment secretary criticised the treatment of farmers in the UK-Australia trade pact.

UK agriculture is highly exposed to serious diseases imported from Europe, including African swine fever (ASF), because of a failure to get new border control posts (BCPs) operational before July 2022, a senior vet has warned.

New post-Brexit border paperwork coming into force in July is expected to cost UK food companies millions of pounds, according to a trade body.