A leading industry body has warned that food supply disruptions are set to hit the UK as new post-Brexit restrictions come into force. 

The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has said that new border controls on plant and animal products imported from the EU may see delays in ports at New Year. 

The new rules will start on January 1 and declare that importers must make a full customs declaration on goods entering the UK from the EU or other countries. 

Adding that traders will no longer be able to delay completing full import customs declarations for up to 175 days, which were introduced to cope with the disruption of Brexit.

Western Telegraph: Stores could face shortages. (PA)Stores could face shortages. (PA)

There has been some concern that supply chain issues could see prices on products increase to make up for companies' loss of earnings. 

However, the BFFF chief executive Richard Harrow has said that "Whilst the new UK rules will be introduced in stages, we are concerned that not enough planning has been done to ensure the new requirements are understood by everyone in the food supply chain."

Using the example of a new HMRC process called Goods Vehicle Management System that allows HMRC to keep track of loads containing meat and plant products in fact moving ports.

Mr Harrow also said that "Whilst many UK hauliers are well prepared for this change, we suspect many EU hauliers are not."

Adding that: "We are still finding new elements of the process that our members are unaware of, or lack of clarity on what they need to do to comply with the regulations.

“With only days to go before the new rules, we remain concerned that January could be a fraught month for our members.”

The UK imports five times the amount of food it exports to the EU, so the potential for massive delays and food supply issues in January is high.