Summary
UK trade related veterinary inspection and certification services are facing serious problems of recruitment and retention as demand sours. There are calls for both a greater government role in the organisation and conduct of trade related veterinary inspection services and the establishment of para-professional veterinary support staff for the conduct of trade related inspection and certification activities. However, unless changes designed to address staffing constraints are introduced in close consultation with trade partners such changes could disrupt trade, creating a dual system of EU and non-EU accepted health certification. While there are also calls for new UK electronic EHC systems which are compatible with EU systems and for the UK to negotiate a veterinarian equivalency agreement with the EU, the current political atmosphere and evolving situation on the ground are not conducive to early progress in these areas. This could potentially give rise to UK export surges of livestock products to ACP countries and even EU export surges to ACP countries, if the UK enforces equivalent controls on imports from the EU, to avoid undermining the competitive position of UK livestock product producers. Read more “Implications of the Veterinary Constraint on UK Export Health Certification”
Category: Brexit
Can Evolving EU UK Technical Discussions on Northern Ireland Trade Issues Help Ease Triangular Supply Chain Challenges?
Summary
EU/UK technical discussions on solutions which could facilitate agri-food sector trade between the mainland UK and Northern Ireland, within the framework of the mutually agreed Northern Ireland protocol, could offer hope for solutions to the wider challenges now faced along ACP triangular supply chains. However, any progress on these technical issues would leave unaddressed the issue of the MFN tariffs now levied on ACP exports to final markets where the shipment arrangements require these goods to cross and EU/UK border outside of customs supervision. This issue needs to be addressed unilaterally by the UK through the adoption of practical trade documentation requirements if the commitments to continuity in market access for ACP exports is to be fully upheld. Parallel unilateral action is also required from the EU. Read more “Can Evolving EU UK Technical Discussions on Northern Ireland Trade Issues Help Ease Triangular Supply Chain Challenges?”
The UK Trade and Business Commission Offers Opportunities for Highlighting ACP Triangular Supply Chain Concerns
Summary
A UK Trade and Business Commission consisting of cross-party Parliamentary and business representation has been launched. The aim is to review the UK’s new trade agreements and offer evidence-based recommendation for improvements which could facilitate frictionless trade. Given the Commission’s focus on food supply chains and the new rules of origin and SPS complications which have arisen since 1 January 2021, this initiative could offer an opportunity to raise the profile of ACP agri-food sector trade concerns linked to the Brexit process and advance practical solutions for the renewal of frictionless trade along ACP triangular supply chains used to serve markets in both the UK and EU. Read more “The UK Trade and Business Commission Offers Opportunities for Highlighting ACP Triangular Supply Chain Concerns”
Post Brexit Problems in UK Meat Exports to the EU and Implications for UK Poultry Meat exports to ACP Countries
Summary
UK meat exports to the EU are down 50% in the first six weeks of 2021, with the decline in poultry meat being initially most pronounced. In the long term it is expected UK exports will be down between 230% and 50% depending on the product and size of the exporting enterprises. Particularly in the poultry meat sector this could lead to a surge in exports to non-EU markets, with African and Caribbean markets for frozen poultry parts likely to be targeted. This could easily double current levels of UK exports to targeted African and Caribbean markets. The eventual level of UK trade diversion in the poultry sector will be determined by the nature of the controls placed on mainland UK to Northern Ireland poultry trade. Read more “Post Brexit Problems in UK Meat Exports to the EU and Implications for UK Poultry Meat exports to ACP Countries”
East African Air Freighted Horticulture and Floriculture Exports to UK facing Devastation Given UK ‘Red List’ Travel Restrictions
Summary
The UK’s new Covid-19 linked ‘red list’ travel restrictions threatens to undermine a nascent recovery in passenger-based air freight services from Eastern Africa to the UK. While the public health measures are understandable, they need to be seen in the context of new Brexit trade complications for air freighted fresh produce. This threatens to put Eastern African fresh produce exporters at a competitive disadvantage vis a vis competitors in major product areas such as fresh beans and cut flowers. It gives an added urgency to the promotion of unilateral UK initiatives to resolve the new rules of origin complications on ACP exports shipped to the UK market via the EU. Read more “East African Air Freighted Horticulture and Floriculture Exports to UK facing Devastation Given UK ‘Red List’ Travel Restrictions”
UK Parliamentary Report Reviews Operational Shortcomings of EU/UK TCA and Highlights Rules of Origin Problems Faced by ACP Re-Exports
Summary
While the House of Lords European Union Committee highlights the substantive unresolved issues under the EU/UK TCA, the focus is on the impact on UK businesses. While the impact on developing countries is referred to, this analysis is underdeveloped. A significant number of ACP supply chains are being affected. The new rules of origin complication is a particular area of concern, with ACP exporters being caught up in this new trade challenge. The affected ACP exports range from fresh horticulture, floriculture, and fisheries products, through the onward trade in ACP semi-processed products to ACP sugar exports. A solution to the rules of origin complication at the EU/UK level is unlikely. There is however scope for a solution for ACP exports shipped to the UK via the EU through the kind of UK pragmatic unilateral action which the Committee has called for and which the UK government is nominally open to. Coordinated action by ACP governments and business bodies to secure such unilateral pragmatic UK solutions in trade with the UK would appear urgent, given the scale of total ACP exports potentially facing export market losses. Read more “UK Parliamentary Report Reviews Operational Shortcomings of EU/UK TCA and Highlights Rules of Origin Problems Faced by ACP Re-Exports”
COLEACP Updated Brexit Impact Assessment Posted
Summary
The comprehensive nature of COLEACP’s Brexit assessment makes it a useful starting point for all ACP agri-food exporters in their efforts to get to grips with the new trade challenges thrown up by the culmination of the Brexit process. Its analysis of the short-term transitional and long-term structural challenges faced, also raises policy issues which now need to be addressed if disruptions to ACP supply chains which cross the new EU/UK customs and regulatory border are to be minimised. This sets an agenda for concerted ACP action, drawing in stakeholders from the multiplicity of sectors adversely affected by the new trade realities faced. While in the horticulture sector these issues primarily affect ACP exporters using triangular supply chains, in other sectors ACP exporters directly serving EU and UK markets could also be affected. This is particularly the case where imports are used in manufactured food and drink products and where the use of domestically produced alternatives (of either EU or UK origin) could avert any rules of origin complications (e.g., in the use of imported sugar in food and drink products destined for export). Read more “COLEACP Updated Brexit Impact Assessment Posted”
Will ACP Producers Currently Exporting to Irish Markets Via the UK or Using the UK ‘Land Bridge’ Take Advantage of Expanded Mainland EU to Republic of Ireland Ferry Services
Summary
There has been a 3-fold expansion of direct ferry services from the Republic of Ireland to France in 2021, as well as an expansion of direct services to Dutch and Belgian ports. Using these routes to serve Irish markets could enable ACP exporters traditionally using the UK ‘land bridge’ or serving Irish markets via the UK to sidestep export pre-notification requirements further phytosanitary certification requirements, further phytosanitary inspections, and major rules of origin complications, which result in a loss of duty-free access for onward traded goods, while allowing a continuation of low-cost ‘Groupage’ cargo haulage practices. The imbalance in Irish truck-based exports compared to imports could open up opportunities for securing low-cost freight services, which balance the more expensive ferry costs along these routes. However, this will require a process of ‘match making’ between ACP exporters and Irish hauliers, where potentially Irish government support could play a role. Read more “Will ACP Producers Currently Exporting to Irish Markets Via the UK or Using the UK ‘Land Bridge’ Take Advantage of Expanded Mainland EU to Republic of Ireland Ferry Services”
Brexit Bureaucracy Places Brake on Commercial Flexibility for ACP Horticultural Exports
Summary
Pre-export notification requirements, the need to re-issue phytosanitary certificates, problems in delivering ‘groupage’ cargoes, port clearance delays and rising road haulage charges are all undermining the commercial flexibility required for ACP exporters to exploit emerging market opportunities, where this involves the movement of goods across EU/UK borders. This is depressing export earnings, with this being a particular problem for smaller scale ACP exporters. In addition, new rules of origin complication which lead to standard MFN import tariffs being applied if goods delivered along triangular supply chains are not shipped under customs supervision, is requiring a fundamental rethink of the routes to market being used. A policy response, involving modification of the ‘Direct Transport’ provisions of the rules of origin applied under ACP-UK trade agreements and ACP-EU trade agreements is urgently needed, if smaller scale exporters shipping along triangular supply chains are not to be driven of UK and Irish markets. Read more “Brexit Bureaucracy Places Brake on Commercial Flexibility for ACP Horticultural Exports”
UK Deferment of Implementation of Phase 2 and Phase 3 UK/EU Border Controls Leave Problems Faced By ACP Triangular Supply Chain Exporters Unaddressed
Summary
On 11 March 2021, the UK government announced the deferment until 2022 of its planned phase 2 and phase 3 controls on goods crossing an EU/UK border. This has reduced concerns over potential disruptions of UK imports of fresh produce in the coming months and provides a 9-month breathing space for the UK authorities to set in place border control infrastructure and services which are ‘fit for purpose’. This deferment benefits EU producers, but largely leaves ACP exporters serving UK markets along triangular supply chains unaffected. ACP exporters will still face the dilemma of choosing between entering the EU customs union so as to benefit from the light UK import controls applied to EU products and losing ‘originating status and facing MFN tariffs, which is the consequence of leaving customs supervised transit arrangements. Clearly there is an urgent need to address specific ACP triangular supply chain issues if the functioning of many of these ACP triangular supply chains are not to be fundamentally undermined. Read more “UK Deferment of Implementation of Phase 2 and Phase 3 UK/EU Border Controls Leave Problems Faced By ACP Triangular Supply Chain Exporters Unaddressed”