LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the European Single Market on December 31 has seen the UK meat industry caught in post-Brexit red tape that has resulted in border delays and produce rotting at ports, a UK exporter told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"We are tied up in bureaucratic red tape," DH Foods managing director Tony Hale said in a statement sent to Sputnik, adding that "this results in delay hold ups and meat going out of conditions."
Hale said they are particularly frustrated over the detailed requirement of health certificates and the fact that UK veterinarians have different interpretations that the EU will not accept.
"If there are some bilateral agreements between the UK and EU vets, they will not amend them unless they get written communication through the European Commission," he stated.
The British Meat Processors Association has also sounded the alarm over the border delay and in a press release on Monday called for the modernization and digitalization of the current customs and certification system, claiming that the existing paper-based system is a "relic from last century."
It cited the case of a hauler that on January 11 had 6 trailers of products waiting for customs clearance into the Republic of Ireland during for five days.
"Every hour a lorry load of meat is delayed increases the chance of that order either being reduced in price, cancelled and returned or, in the most severe cases, thrown away and ending up in landfill," the BMPA said.
Back on December 16, 2020, even before the UK and the EU struck the trade deal that was supposed to guarantee a smooth post-Brexit transition, the BMPA warned that UK exporters would not be able to cope with the requirement for every consignment of meat to be certified as safe and disease-free because there are not enough qualified vets to carry out the work.
UK fishermen are also complaining over sales lost because of the new customs regulations. On Monday, shellfish exporters parked 20 lorries around Parliament and Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official residence at 10 Downing Street to protest against the Brexit red tape.
