Households face fresh disruption to food supplies and empty shelves in supermarkets in the new year, as EU border controls come into force, industry chiefs have warned.

The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) said tighter controls for animal and plant products being imported from the single bloc into the UK from January 1 threatened to create major delays at Britain’s ports.

Richard Harrow, chief executive of the BFFF, said that some of the changes in how items could enter the UK, such as the new HMRC system for tracking loads containing meat and plant items, were not well understood by many EU businesses.

He said: “The system requires haulage companies to pre-lodge the arrival of a load to the UK before it departs from the EU port of embarkation.

“Whilst many UK hauliers are well prepared for this change, we suspect many EU hauliers are not.”

From January 1, all importers will need to make a full customs declaration when goods are entering the UK, rather than being allowed 175 days to complete these forms, as they have been able to do in the wake of Brexit.

Mr Harrow added: “Whilst the UK authorities have said they will not stop vehicles that do not complete all the documents correctly, this assumes the EU port will allow a vehicle without the correct paperwork to leave port.”

He said there were also other changes to the import process that BFFF members were “unaware of, or [had a] lack of clarity on what they need to do to comply with the regulations”.

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

Concerns over new blocks in the food supply chain come as worker shortages continue to weigh on the sector, with businesses still struggling to recruit lorry drivers, butchers and fruit pickers.

Farms and food producers, meanwhile, have also been facing a steep rise in energy and feed costs.