British poultry exporters have experienced severe delays shipping meat to the EU, resulting in lorry loads of meat that has gone off and had to be sent back for rendering.
The British Poultry Council said the new trading arrangements with the EU, which meant each shipment of meat required new paperwork and vet checks, could for some businesses prove “catastrophic”.
British Poultry Council Chief Executive, Richard Griffiths, said the certification procedures for third countries exporting to the UK were not designed with perishable goods in mind. The new procedures of issuing Export Health Certificates, had caused “severe delays” leading to some lorry loads of poultry meat having to be sent back for rendering.
“It has either gone off due to delays in complex bureaucracy, or hauliers refuse to take it on in the first place, knowing the difficulties that face them,” said Griffiths.
Griffiths said the UK’s FTA, which was agreed on 24 December, meant British poultry meat businesses had less than a week to prepare for EU exit and the issues that come with it.