According to an article by James Ridler on the Food Manufacture website, "British food businesses face ‘outright export bans’ and ‘structural’ barriers to trade with Europe thanks to bureaucracy linked with Brexit, according to the House of Lords EU Environment sub-committee."
In a nutshell (the contents of many of which we successfully market into the UK and Europe on behalf of USA producers), things are not looking rosy for British exporters of food to the Continent – particularly so in the case of small and medium producers who lack the financial clout of the big players to crack what is increasingly becoming a very tough nut. The raft of non-tariff barriers to trade between the EU and UK, not to mention other potential checks that may be in the offing due to policy differences between the two parties.
One area of particular concern is groupage transport wherein suppliers share mixed consignments in order to reduce shipping costs. In this case, the number of health certificates and amount of paperwork involved is leading may suppliers to drop exports to the EU altogether.
At TradeScope, while we have remained neutral where Brexit was concerned, we always knew that it would inevitably lead to serious issues for exporters and importers alike; not that anyone needed a crystal ball to deduce that. At any rate, this is where we are today and we can only hope that the peers' sub-committee's calls for fully electronic systems and reduced barriers to trade fall on receptive ears in government. Watch this space.
If you'd like to chew the fat with us about this or any other food and beverage import.export challenges you may be facing, drop Ted Horton a line right here.