Retailers in the United Kingdom have been stocking up on food and putting in place other preparations for years to prevent supply disruption from the European Union in the case if the sides fail to reach a post-Brexit trade deal, Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2020) Retailers in the United Kingdom have been stocking up on food and putting in place other preparations for years to prevent supply disruption from the European Union in the case if the sides fail to reach a post-Brexit trade deal, Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said on Monday.
"Retailers have been working for a number of years now actually to prepare for a possible no-deal, and that includes building up some stocks of the typical products that we would buy," Opie told Sky news, specifying that "the pressure is likely to be on fresh produce, a small amount of food that we buy, an important part, but certainly not in the terms of wholefood supply chain."
At the same time, he said the overwhelming majority � four-fifth � of UK imports come from the European Union and if the divorce ends in no deal, supermarkets and their clients are up to face over 3 billion Pounds ($4 billion) in tariffs beginning from January 1.
"Retailers are doing everything they can in time for 1 January but no amount of preparation for retailers can entirely prevent disruption to food and other essential goods that come from or through the EU," Opie said.
The BRC official called on the Brexit negotiators to make the protection of UK and EU consumers their "top priority" when trying to reach a last-moment deal.
The 11-month Brexit transition period, which came into effect after the United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, is set to expire at the end of the year. London and Brussels have until December 31 to negotiate a trade agreement, or else they will have to trade under standard WTO rules.
The negotiation has so far been deadlocked on two items � the ownership of fisheries close to UK waters and the fair business competition. On Sunday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instructed the negotiators to continue the talks.
