LONDON (Reuters) -British shoppers concerned about the inability of the government to negotiate a post-Brexit trade agreement should not store food with the European Union, business secretary Alok Sharma said on Monday.
On Sunday, Britain and the EU decided to go the extra mile" to try to reach an elusive trade deal in the coming days, despite missing their most recent deadline to prevent a tumultuous exit at the end of the month.
Sharma said he was sure that even if Britain left the bloc without a trade agreement, food supplies would be preserved.
"I am very confident that the supply chains are actually still going to be in place," he told Sky News.
He said, "I'd say to everybody, do your normal shopping like you do, and I think we'll find that we're going to be absolutely fine."
In March, as the nation entered a COVID-19 national lockdown, Britons loaded up on long-life products, stripping some shelves bare and forcing many people to queue for hours or travel farther than usual to buy products such as toilet paper, tinned tomatoes and rice.
On Sunday, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that on Jan. 1 retailers were doing all they could to plan for all eventualities - raising their stocks of tins, toilet rolls and other longer life items so that important products can be properly supplied.
It also claimed that there was no need for the public to purchase more food than normal, as the main effect would be on imported fresh produce, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, which either retailers or customers could not store for long periods.
Without a trade deal, the BRC has warned of higher costs. Tesco, the largest retail company in Britain, said that customers should expect price rises of between 3% and 5% .
Sharma said the effect would be less, however.
"In terms of a potential impact, I think we're talking less than 2 percent, obviously there will be some products where it might be a little bit more," he told BBC Television.