In the lead-up to Christmas, The Leaders Council heard from PDK Shellfish managing director Paul Knight, who warned that new post-Brexit regulations governing the export of live produce to the EU had the potential to do significant damage to the industry. With a fortnight having passed since the end of the transition period, the sector is facing such intense teething problems with the new system that it is already weighing-up the prospect of temporarily halting, or worse.
The effects of post-Brexit red tape are already hitting the haulage industry, leaving vehicles stranded both in Britain and across the continent because of errors and oversights in the relevant paperwork. For a sector that deals with trading live produce, however, Knight stressed that the consequences are proving to be especially harmful both for sector staff and the sustainability of the product.
He said: “It has now been non-stop in our industry every day for four weeks solid, including Christmas trading. The system that is set-up for us to be able to trade is both time consuming and failing, and the freight forwarders and customs cannot cope.
“Already just in this last week, I estimate that millions of pounds of shellfish have been delayed in reaching their end destination and have therefore been lost. The vivier lorries carrying the produce are being left stranded all over the place because of tiny errors on all sides that make little difference, and it is leading to substantial losses.
“Fortunately, our lorries have so far been able to get through, but the best way of describing the scenario is that it is like going to the border with hundreds of thousands of live animals and playing a game of ‘Red or Black’ to determine whether or not they will die where you are parked.”
As Knight spoke of prior to the New Year, exporters of live produce are already beginning to struggle with keeping on top of the new paperwork and documentation that is required to continue to trade as normal, and he believes that the additional administrative burden could push the industry to breaking point.
“This is not manageable. There is already talk about all our sector having to stop. Even if we have the correct documents, we are fighting ridiculous and constant issues. Companies in our industry have been up through the night solving these issues that should not exist, and we are finding ourselves being asked for documents that we do not even need, or we have already got just to keep trading. When we have people up all hours making sure we are on top of this, it is putting people’s health at stake.
“I can safely say that all shellfish companies are working around the clock just to do our job. It cannot last like this any longer. The strain on everyone in the sector is too much and the systems are not acceptable.”
Indeed, the burden on staff within the sector that has had to be taken on virtually overnight has already been so great, that Knight is astounded that his own personnel have not yet moved into other industries.
“This is a far bigger disaster than anyone predicted, and we have been hung out and left to dry. None of us can last doing what we are having to do. All companies in our sector are in massive danger of failure. All of my team are so stressed that I do not know why they have not yet quit, and I don’t know anyone else who would want to work under such conditions.
“We are lucky we have got lorries through and we have the correct paperwork to date, but the financial and health implications of what we are doing are not acceptable. If it is like this forever, I for one, won’t be part of it, and I could probably come up with a long list of companies that will say the same.”
Knight is also concerned that any temporary pause to the industry to help adjust to new procedures may well become more permanent, since without action to alleviate the administrative burden the industry may not be able to continue trading at all.
In order to complete the relevant paperwork to cross over to Europe and get the live produce to its destination, Knight informed us that the only option has been to load the vivier lorries 24 to 48 hours earlier than planned, which with a live product leads to additional mortality and significant loss.
He explained: “To provide an example, I have two lorries tonight with shellfish aboard 24 to 48 hours earlier than they should be, just to stand a chance of getting all the correct paperwork done for that lorry to get to Europe. We are a time sensitive industry and already accounted for five to 10 per cent losses in our shipments before Brexit. The additional mortality on that shellfish will be thousands, this situation simply cannot last because it significantly hits both our finances and our sustainability.
“We are dealing with live animals, we just simply have to be treated differently, we cannot continue to load the shellfish so early. The system we are working under is forcing us to kill shellfish and it is just not acceptable.”
A frustrated Knight has already found himself in contact with trade body Seafood Scotland and put forward his suggestion that the new administrative system must be simplified to ensure Environmental Health Certificates can be completed more swiftly and allow vehicles to set off for the border sooner to preserve more live produce.
Writing to Seafood Scotland, Knight said: “We need quicker systems, and we need things to be simplified. This will ease the burden on our staff and ensure less of our product is lost. We should be able to email Environmental Health Certificates directly to customs without the lorries having to wait for the original document to arrive, which takes at least a full day. Originals could be sent via next day delivery, and there should also be a trust list.
“I know the world is on fire right now and people’s attention is understandably on Covid-19, but the damage being done to us and our sector is serious and without immediate action it will bring an end to us all.”
