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Small businesses have warned that new post-Brexit checks mean it is easier to import from China than it is to trade with France, as food producers brace themselves for escalating costs.
The new rules implemented today mean that health certificates will now be needed on a wide range of EU goods such as meat, fruit and vegetables. A further system for physical checks at the border is coming into force on 30 April.
Nigel Jenny from the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) warned that the checks for food and plant importers is essentially a £200million tax on the industry and it will increase prices for consumers.
Paolo Arrigo, managing director of Seeds of Italy, told The Independent that the new checks were “anti-small business” and that it was now easier to import from China than France.
Conservative health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom however played down concerns about more red tape, saying that checks at the UK/EU border are the “price you pay” for leaving the EU.
She told Times Radio: “It was very clear in the Brexit discussions a long time ago now, today is the fourth anniversary of leaving the EU, it was very clear that we would be leaving the single market.”
Show latest update 1706725858
Brexit a ‘seismic moment’ and will take time to ‘filter through’, says minister
Brexit was a “seismic moment in British politics” and “something of that magnitude is going to take time to filter through”, Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins said.
The health secretary told reporters that the Covid vaccine rollout was an example of Britain’s ability to move quicker than the EU after leaving the bloc.
She said: “I’ll give you one very positive example of how being free from the EU enabled us to make real change to our society and that, of course, was through the vaccination programme during Covid.
“We were able to come out of lockdown faster than any other country, because we were able to make those decisions about the vaccination programme and roll it out as quickly as we did.”
She claimed the pharmaceutical industry viewed the UK’s position outside the EU as a “real game changer for them” and “I think we really are going to see some really exciting opportunities in the years ahead of us to the things”.
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 18:301706722326
FSB raises concerns of ‘disproportionate impact of fees’ that could hit small businesses
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has raised concerns about the “disproportionate impact of fees” that could land on small businesses when physical checks at the border come into force on 30 April.
Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the group, said:“We are concerned that some UK small importers might still be in the dark about the import checks that came into effect on 31 Jan.
While we’ve been urging small firms to get ready for the changes and talk to their EU suppliers, there’s a need for UK Government to monitor implementation closely over the coming days and weeks and take steps to address issues that impact on trade flows.
“Groupage shipments, often used by small businesses importing small quantities, are particularly vulnerable to disruption.
“In terms of physical checks coming into effect from April, there are concerns around the disproportionate impact of fees for these checks on small businesses and confusion over how the checks will be carried out, which might affect the quality of imported goods. We’d like clarity from the Government on these areas as soon as possible.”
The FSB are the largest organisation representing small and medium sized businesses in the UK and have around 200,000 members.
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 17:321706720393
57 per cent of people think Brexit is more a failure than a success
A new poll from Ipsos Mori indicates that 57 per cent of respondents say Brexit is more a failure than a success.
The poll also reveals that 13 per cent people think it is more a success than a failure.
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 16:591706718782
Boris Johnson attacks Sunak’s new Brexit deal, as plan to cut NI checks revealed
Boris Johnson has attacked Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal with the DUP – warning that it could tie the UK to EU rules on the trade of goods in future.
Mr Sunak’s government has set out its deal with the DUP to remove routine checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in a bid to restore powersharing at Stormont.
The so-called “green lane” process – which requires percentages of goods to be checked in NI as they arrive from GB – will be rebranded as the “UK internal market system”.
Adam Forrest reports.
Boris Johnson attacks Sunak’s new Brexit deal with DUP
Former PM joins right-wing Tory Brexiteers in warning against ‘return’ to following EU rules
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 16:331706717292
Checks make it ‘easier to trade with China than France’
The new post-Brexit import checks on food and plant products are “anti-small business” and have increased red tape so much it is now easier to import from China than France.
Paolo Arrigo, managing director of Seeds of Italy, told The Independent that where previously the industry had “freedom” while .Britain was in the EU, it has developed into a “bureaucratic nightmare”.
He said that the new rules will lead to four significant problems; delays, reduced consumer choice, increased costs and more bureaucracy.
“For the UK seed industry this is devastating and is just further bureaucracy and costs that we don’t need…We are a small business and there are six of us, we do not have to time for extra paperwork that’s needed.
“If you are a big company with thousands of employees you can just hire someone to sort the additional measures that are needed, but for small businesses it is a real drain on our time.”
Mr Arrigo added: “If we had stayed in the Single Market we would not have been having even a tiny proportion of the problems we are seeing now.”
He said that ever since the UK left the EU trade had become increasingly difficult with the continent.
“When we first started with all of this nonsense we had two deliveries returned to Italy. One was because it was with the wrong palette. And another was returned because it was not written in the correct colour of black. These issues did not happen when we had the freedom to trade.”
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 16:081706715816
£200million price hike for fresh food and vegetables
Nigel Jenny from the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has warned that post Brexit checks for food and plant importers will increase costs for businesses.
He told BBC breakfast: “The £200m is a tax in essence by the UK government to manage this process”.
He added that these increased costs will be passed onto consumers in the form of price increases for fresh produce.
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 15:431706712300
UK government is ‘Brexit-betraying’, says DUP MP
The UK government has been accused of being spineless, weak-kneed and “Brexit-betraying” by a DUP MP.
Speaking in the Commons, Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, said: “When the Northern Ireland assembly sits, ministers and assembly members will be expected by law to adhere to and implement laws which are made in Brussels, which they had no say over and no ability to amend, and no ability to stop.
“This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying Government, refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland.”
He added: “Is Northern Ireland going to find it’s got the ability to stay tied to the United Kingdom, or will the Government proceed happily to change laws here regardless of the impact it has on Northern Ireland?”
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris replied: “On the fourth anniversary of leaving the European Union, I can tell him absolutely that this agreed package of measures will not change the freedoms and powers we have secured through Brexit or through the Windsor framework.
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 14:451706709080
Labour will look again at EU relationship if businesses are ‘struggling’ with new checks
Labour said the party, should it win this year’s expected general election, would look again at the trading relationship with Brussels if businesses are “struggling” with the new checks.
Tulip Siddiq, a shadow Treasury minister, told Sky News: “If there are things that aren’t working, then of course we need to review it and look at it.
“We would look at look at where businesses are struggling, where the economy is struggling, and go and see if we can get a better deal for our country.
“That is what anyone who is in charge should be doing.
“They (voters) may have voted to leave the European Union, but they didn’t vote to get a bad deal.”
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 13:511706705489
Boris Johnson celebrates four years of Brexit
Boris Johnson marked four years since Brexit took effect with a warning of any watering down of the current arrangements.
It comes with the government set to publish the details of its deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), setting the stage for the return of the Stormont powersharing institutions.
But some Tories have concerns it could limit the UK’s post-Brexit freedom to diverge from EU rules.
The former prime minister, in a post on X, hit out at “artificial” concerns about the border on the island of Ireland and warned against any return to the kind of deal pushed unsuccessfully by Theresa May.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “Four years on from Brexit we celebrate the restoration of this country’s democratic power to make its own laws and rules.
“With those Brexit freedoms we have introduced improved standards for animal welfare, cut taxes on sanitary products, created greater flexibility for cutting edge industries from financial services to bioscience, done many global free trade deals – and it was at least partly thanks to Brexit that this country had the fastest covid vaccine rollout in Europe.
“We must retain the appetite and the courage to diverge from the low-growth high-regulation European model.
“We must at all costs avoid a return to anything remotely like the disastrous ‘Chequers’ formula whereby artificial concerns about the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland are used to keep the whole of the UK in alignment with EU rules.”
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 12:511706702886
Brexit a ‘seismic moment’ and will take time to ‘filter through’, says minister
Brexit was a “seismic moment in British politics” and “something of that magnitude is going to take time to filter through”, Cabinet minister Victoria Atkins said.
The health secretary told reporters that the Covid vaccine rollout was an example of Britain’s ability to move quicker than the EU after leaving the bloc.
She said: “I’ll give you one very positive example of how being free from the EU enabled us to make real change to our society and that, of course, was through the vaccination programme during Covid.
“We were able to come out of lockdown faster than any other country, because we were able to make those decisions about the vaccination programme and roll it out as quickly as we did.”
She claimed the pharmaceutical industry viewed the UK’s position outside the EU as a “real game changer for them” and “I think we really are going to see some really exciting opportunities in the years ahead of us to the things”.
Joe Middleton31 January 2024 12:08NewerOlder✕
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