Bureaucratic obstacles still continue to haunt exporters.
Ahead of the first meeting of the Scottish Seafood Export Taskforce on Friday, Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing has outlined areas in a government statement where the industry has faced challenges since the end of the EU Exit Transition Period.
Ewing said that he was going to negotiate to improve areas which include: ensuring a more consistent approach and understanding of customs arrangements. Simplifying the system used for Export Health Certificates, to make it easier for businesses and certifiers to make changes to their paperwork. As well as, aligning HMRC and Defra systems to cut down on errors and make them more user friendly.
The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation welcomed the announcement of the Brexit seafood task force in early February. SSPO boss Tavish Scott said at the time that the industry faces extra export costs every day and uncertainty on delivery times for fish into Europe.
“These are not just ‘teething problems’ this is an entirely new way of working that is a direct consequence of the way the UK Government handled Brexit and we must look at ways to minimise these impacts,” said Ewing.
The taskforce that has been set up is UK Government led and will be regularly attended by Ewing, and representatives from the Scottish seafood sector.
