“We have to level the playing field”, says BPC boss
The British Poultry Council (BPC) said it believed the cost of not having “fair, reciprocated checks” on food at the UK border is greater than the burdens that come with them.
This news follows the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), which has now officially come into force.
BPC said that certification alone had cost exporters £55 million a year since 1st January 2021. Meanwhile, it said, importers have enjoyed a competitive advantage, paying £0 since controls have been delayed five times in two years.
The poultry body said that “blatant disparity” in UK-EU trade had “unfairly tipped the scales” due to the lack of implementation of border controls, leaving exporters to “shoulder the costs and burdens of Brexit alone”.
It also highlighted that the “lack of a level playing field” meant the UK had exported 167,000 tonnes of poultry meat to the EU last year, worth £225 million – down from 380,000 tonnes in 2020. Conversely, stated BPC, imports of poultry meat continued to rise, with the UK bringing in nearly 675,000 tonnes from the EU, valued at over £2 billion.
“No one wants the burdens wrapped up in additional checks,” said BPC chief executive Richard Griffiths.
“Exporting sectors like our own have suffered the pains of so-called ‘teething problems’ since Day One, but the ongoing impact of unreciprocated controls is just as big a problem.
“We have to level the burden to level the playing field. That’s what an equal approach to import checks with the EU guarantees: it recognises our standards, backs our producers, and ensures safe, affordable, nutritious food for all.”
The BPC said it believed the cost of not having “fair, reciprocated checks” was greater than the burdens that come with them – particularly in the absence of a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement, in which burdens and checks could be addressed, equalised and potentially eliminated.
“If quality food for all is the priority, then we have to level the playing field across industries, sectors and entire nations. Only then can we go on to address the inefficiencies in UK-EU trade while safeguarding standards across the board – facilitated by an SPS Agreement,” said Griffiths.
He said: “This Government has not made any real effort to pursue an SPS agreement, and continued imbalance between import and export controls is a burden we have yet to see Government take seriously. By not fixing problems with a mutually beneficial SPS agreement between the UK and EU, Government is exposing the UK’s food frameworks to more instability.”
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