BMPA warns Brexit bureaucracy will fuel cost of living crisis
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has said the new post-Brexit trading regime has added millions in extra costs for UK businesses, with consumers predicted to foot the bill.
At the start of 2021, the BMPA estimated the extra cost to the meat industry of Brexit bureaucracy would be between £90-£120 million a year. The association also predicted it would render British exporters less competitive and cause a permanent 20% loss of trade with the EU. According to the BMPA, recently released government figures for export certification costs suggests these predictions were accurate.
The BMPA said that the rising costs of doing business is also about to hit European exporters who currently supply over a quarter of the food on British shelves.
BMPA said: “Until now, the government has taken the decision to wave through supplies into the UK without requiring the same paperwork and physical checks. But from July, the same extra time and cost burdens to get through customs will be imposed on our EU suppliers. This means that EU imports will suddenly become more expensive, and European exporters will become less inclined to keep supplying to the UK.”
It added: “The new post-Brexit trading regime has added millions in extra cost but provided zero benefit to companies; and it’s consumers that will be picking up the bill.”
Additional costs
The BMPA reported that recently released figures from the Animal and Plant Health Agency, which it said is responsible for a part of the extra bureaucracy, show that the bill for Export Health Certificates that are now required to ship all products of animal origin comes to around £60 million a year. The price reflects a 1,255% increase year-on-year.
In addition, the association said that there are now new costs and overheads that previously didn’t exist. These include:
- extra administrative staff
- additional paperwork
- record keeping
- systems to support the issuing of EHCs
- port charges
- customs agents’ fees.
The BMPA said that members’ costs vary between companies, but all have reported a significant increase. Those same companies are also reporting a persistent loss of trade with the EU around the predicted 20%.
“Zero extra benefit”
Nick Allen, chief executive of the BMPA, said: “After a year of dealing with the new post-Brexit customs and certification system, our members are reporting a huge rise in cost, which either has to be absorbed or passed on to their EU customers, rendering British exporters less competitive.”
Allen continued: “Millions of pounds are being spent on extra paperwork and checks, but for zero extra benefit to British companies. The government could solve this problem by entering into a Veterinary Agreement with the EU which would instantly negate the need for most of the current bureaucracy and physical border checks and give British exporters a fighting chance to regain the trade they’ve lost – trade that simply can’t be replaced by selling goods to more distant markets.”
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