IMTA Reaction to Government Announcement on Staged Controls for Imports from EU
We learned last week that the changes on import of meat from the EU expected from April 1st would be pushed back to October, meaning pre-notification and Export Health Certificates will not be required until then. Similarly, the physical checks expected to begin in July have been delayed until January 2022. IMTA welcomes the additional time available for government to provide answers to the outstanding questions our members had about the changes to import controls in April and July. We shared a paper with Defra only last week to list the areas where there was still insufficient detail to allow companies and their supply chains to prepare for the changes that were due in April. Though companies were trying to prepare for the changes, there was not the requisite detail from government on how documentary checks were to operate from April, how import groupage consignments would work, BCP locations and how processes would work from July. We hope now though that we see answers to the outstanding questions in the coming weeks so that companies do have enough time to prepare for the changes, bearing in mind October is not that far away.
There appears to be a lack of understanding politically that companies need more than a week or two to engage with suppliers and customers and prepare for changes. This was illustrated too by the announcement of an FTA with extremely complicated provisions on Rules of Origin, as well as complex interaction with the relatively new Northern Ireland Protocol, on Christmas Eve. Supply chains could never have reasonably been expected to adapt with so little warning for an FTA which entered into force on New Year’s Day.
What we need to see from the EU and the UK is engagement on the mutual issues faced to seek solutions that work for our exports to the EU and EU imports to GB.
IMTA is the leading UK association for the UK meat trade, representing importers and exporters of beef, lamb, pork and poultrymeat. We believe two way trade is essential to deliver carcass balance, food security and consumer choice