London: The UK government decision to delay, for the fifth time, post-Brexit checks on food imports, reported earlier by Cold Chain News, is blamed on the additional cost of the extra red tape and charges that would add an estimated 0.2% to inflation.
The charge for exports to the UK could be as high as £43 per consignment, prohibitive for some smaller importers of European food. Plus consignments will need to be signed off by accredited vets, again an additional cost. The checks are now set to be introduced at the end of April 2024, although many commentators believe the introduction will be delayed until after a general election, which could be as late as 2025.
Shane Brennan, chief executive, Cold Chain Federation, welcomed the fifth delay as “the right decision” saying these Brexit checks will fuel food price inflation whenever they are brought in and so the longer they are held off the better. “It is however yet another blow to the credibility of the government that has set immovable deadlines time and again, only to move them every time. This confusion at the top will not help us with the already massive task of making EU-based businesses aware that Brexit is in fact still not done and they have to invest in the processes necessary to sell to UK customers from early next year,” he said.
Lack of preparedness by European food exporters to the UK threatens major disruption and the Cold Chain Federation has asked ministers to push back the export health certificate requirement to give government time to “ramp up” communications to EU businesses. “The decision to postpone also means that there should be a fully staffed border inspection team on the ground by the time the new requirements come into force, able to provide support and advice for these EU importers,” Brennan said.
“Meeting the new sanitary requirement will still increase costs for the EU food producers supplying into the UK, and we should expect these costs to be passed onto UK retailers and consumers but this change in the implementation timetable could make an important difference towards reducing that impact,” he said.
Labour party opposition to these import checks introduces the possibility that even if they come into force next April they could be scrapped shortly afterwards in the event of a change of government. Equally possible, a sixth delay is not unlikely.
All of which creates uncertainty and makes planning difficult for the food industry. The government says the moves will go ahead with the latest model for the operation of the UK trade border justifying the changes, especially since the “consequences of a major outbreak of plant or animal disease on the economy could be far more severe” than the 0.2% increase in inflation.
The Labour Party says that if it wins the next election, it will try to negotiate a veterinary deal with the EU, similar to EU deals with Switzerland and New Zealand, which have minimised the need for new red tape and charges on food trade to and from Europe. This will entail tradeoffs that will limit Britain’s scope to diverge from EU rules which the Labour Party appears more willing to consider than the government.
In the interim, the food industry must wait.
