Written question asked by Harriett Baldwin (Conservative) on Monday, 24 November 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 December 2025 (named day). It was answered by Chris Bryant (Labour) on Monday, 1 December 2025 on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade.

Fruit and vegetables: Import Duties

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to reduce the cost of groceries by reducing tariffs on fruit and vegetables not (a) grown and (b) processed in the UK.

Answer: As part of the Budget, the Government launched an application window for new duty suspensions on 26 November to help reduce import costs. Stakeholders have until 4 February 2026 to apply for the UK Global Tariff rate to be temporarily suspended on goods which are not produced, or not produced in sufficient quantities, in the UK and Crown Dependencies, including on fruit and vegetables. As a result of the previous application window announced in March 2025, the Government suspended tariffs on a range of food and drink products including fruit juices, pine nuts and raisins.

Secondary information