SALMON producers are calling for the creation of a cross-Border government task force to stop Brexit buckling business.

The sector is behind one of the country's biggest export products but is thought to have lost as much as £3 million in the first week of January as new Brexit red tape blocked sales to the European Union.

The figure takes in the cost of cancelled orders, discounted fish and additional staffing as firms tried to ensure their stocks got to market.

New veterinary checks are needed prior to export and the bumper paperwork now required is so complex that forms come with as many as 60 pages worth of guidance notes. IT problems have also marred operations.

Problems have been so bad that DFDS, the largest logistics provider to the sector, had to pause all exports and some vessels landed their catches in Denmark instead of Scotland, creating fears for the processing sector.

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing called on the UK Government to negotiate an easing of paperwork rules to allow organisations to adapt and told the Sunday National UK ministers were treating the crisis like a discussion about "the rules of croquet".

READ MORE: UK Government slammed for treating Scottish fishing crisis 'like croquet'

While the situations has begun to improve over the past week, major issues are understood to remain.

Now the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) wants ministers on both sides of the border to create a new task force to "iron out the export problems" that have hit seafood firms since Hogmanay.

The National:

Ex-LibDem MSP Tavish Scott, the chief executive of the SSPO, has made the proposal for an expert working group to Michael Gove and Ewing.

He says there is a clear need to get officials, hauliers, agencies and other experts from Scotland and the UK together to work through the outstanding issues to deliver an efficient and speedy seafood export system to the EU.

Scott said: "A huge amount of work has been put in behind the scenes in trying to sort the paperwork problems our sector has been coping with since January 1 but there are still big issues that need to be resolved.

"Our customers in Europe need to know they can rely on our salmon arriving on time and, at the moment, that we cannot always guarantee that.

READ MORE: Fishing crisis: How Brexit pushed Scottish industry into storm

"We need to sort these problems out and the best way is not to apportion blame but to get all the experts round the table – from Scotland and the UK – to work out what really needs to be done."

He went on: "These problems are not insurmountable but we need to work together as a matter of urgency to get them sorted."

The move follows an appeal by the French Fish Merchants Union in Boulogne for authorities to show "leniancy" towards British seafood exporters. A statement issued by Mareyage Boulonnais said: "It seems such a shame to damage a lengthy historic relationship for the sake of red tape and we need as much help as possible during an already difficult time as it is."