British farmers face “spot checks” as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s new Brexit deal. The Prime Minister has since responded to claims that European officials would carry out the unnanounced checks at UK farms and abattoirs to make sure they complied with their food and hygiene rules.

It comes as the Prime Minister moves to align with EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards. He hopes the move will enable businesses to send goods quicker with less costs and paperwork. But critics warned the deal could see the EU send inspectors into British farms which would undermine freedoms won during the Brexit process.

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However, it has been confirmed that the spot checks will only be carried out by UK officials. A government spokesperson said: “It is not true that there would be checks from the EU. Any checks would be deemed essential for protecting the UK’s biosecurity and would be done by UK officials.”

EU spot checks are a standard feature of trade deals with countries such as Canada, New Zealand and Brazil. However, the prospect of foreign inspectors at British farms would have been politically explosive.

The inspections are typically triggered after potentially harmful products are detected in a particular market. Regulators are able to track food items back to their source, which includes farms, and impose shutdowns.

An import ban was previously issued for Brazilian meat due to concerns and outbreaks such as bird flu. Bans such as these are often temporary and usually last a few months.

Sir Keir Starmer has also agreed to EU demands for 12 years of guaranteed access to UK fishing waters. Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, described the deal as a “horror show”.

She said: “Labour’s agreement with the EU is starting to unravel. And we are now starting to see what this will really mean for farmers and just how far Keir Starmer has been played.”

She added: “With £6 billion of fishing rights for the EU, the loss of our right to set our own food rules and now Eurocrat inspectors nosing into UK farms, this is a bad deal for British farming and fishing. When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.”

Further concessions in the new UK-EU deal include joining the Erasmus student exchange programme and a new youth mobility scheme to allow young EU citizens to work and study in Britain more easily.