Brexit: UK 'in denial' about the scale of problem facing exporters to EU

The heads of Scottish business groups in the food and drinks industry told MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster that the biggest problem facing exporters is not paperwork or IT issues, but the denial of the UK Government to accept the scale of the problem.

James Withers, chief executive at Scottish Food and Drink, told the committee that pleas for a grace period on post-Brexit trading arrangements “fell on deaf ears”.

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He said: “There have been some catastrophic decisions taken to create enormous non-tariff barriers."

“And we have ended up with a trading regime that has become complex, costly, slow, prone to break down at its best.

“And at worst, the door to the EU market has been closed altogether for some food exporters across Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

“And unfortunately it’s a very predictable outcome of trying to test the multi-billion-pound new trading system in real-time in the midst of a pandemic.”

He added: “The industry asked, pleaded, for a grace period, and that plea really fell on deaf ears, we feel.”

The introduction of new checks and paperwork since the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 has caused disruption to exports of fresh fish and seafood to the EU.

Producers have expressed frustration at the lack of government action, while last month seafood hauliers protested against the Brexit fishing deal by stacking lorries in central London.

DR Collin & Son were one of the Scottish seafood exporters to take a lorry-load of product to Westminster

Withers later described the true scale of the problem facing exporters saying they have had a "dreadful first few weeks of trading in a post-Brexit world".

He added: “I actually think the biggest challenge, and I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, I don’t think it’s just the sheer weight of paperwork, I don’t think it’s been IT systems crashing in the UK and in France, I don’t think it’s been the missing commodity codes and HMRC systems failing, I don’t even think it’s been the loads held up due to forms being filled out in the wrong colour of ink.

“I think the biggest single challenge we have just now is denial. I think it is denial, from the UK Government in particular, of the scale of the problem.”

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Jimmy Buchanan, chief executive at the Scottish Seafood Association, told the committee that exports were getting through, but the situation was "far from being perfect".

“I am here to represent the industry that employs me and for some, they are beginning to get goods into the EU,” he told the Scottish Affairs Committee.

“I’m not going to say that they’re not moving any seafood, seafood is beginning to flow, and each day is an improving situation. But it’s far from being perfect.

“The Government, to a degree, is still in denial.

“This is not teething problems, these are issues that we need to sit down with the Government, and they need to sit down with the EU Commission, and sort these things out.”

Following the disruption, the UK Government announced it was putting in place a £23 million compensation package for firms exporting fish and shellfish to the EU who can show they have suffered genuine loss.

But while Withers welcomed this and another £7.75m funding package from the Scottish Government's Seafood Producers Resilience Fund, he called it a “sticking plaster”.

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Meanwhile, Elaine Whyte, executive secretary at Clyde Fishermen’s Association, said that fishermen had questioned how they would prove they had suffered a loss.

“Although their loss is very genuine, they have no sales docket, they have nothing to show,” she added.

Whyte told the committee that EU markets that had taken 40 years to build up were being lost to Norway and Ireland.

Details of the Scottish Government's Seafood Producers Resilience Fund will be published on the Marine Scotland section of the Scottish Government website from Friday.

A UK Government spokesman said: “We recognise the temporary issues the fishing industry is facing, and know businesses involved in the export of highly perishable goods, such as fish, will be more affected by delays at the border.

“That’s why we are working with the Scottish Government to set up a new taskforce to understand the key issues facing the Scottish seafood sector, in particular.

“This taskforce will complement our existing Seafood Exports Working Group which is also troubleshooting export issues for the sector.”