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Trucks used to transport British shellfish have been parked on the roads near Downing Street in protest of delays in entering the EU due to new Brexit rules.
More than 20 large trucks from fishing companies across the UK were parked, one with the slogan “Brexit Carnage” while another read: “Incompetent government destroying the seafood industry!”
In recent days it has been suggested that drivers will dump their wasted stock off Downing Street, but so far this has not happened.
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The fisherman rants about the Brexit bureaucracy
Many British fishermen have not been able to export their stocks to Europe since the beginning of the year, following the introduction of catch certificates, health checks and customs declarations that have led to long delays in entering the EU.
European buyers have been rejecting their catches because they are taking too long to reach them, costing producers tens of thousands of pounds per truck in some cases.
Britain exports large quantities of scallops, oysters, lobsters, mussels, prawns and crabs to the EU, which were previously brought directly to the mainland after being harvested.
A spokesperson for DR Collin and Son, who had several trucks at the protest, said the industry is “tied in knots with paperwork requirements that would be fairly easy to handle” as companies have been preparing for some time to abandon. the European Union.
This truck was seen driving through Parliament Square towards the protest.
“However, all training will be wasted as the technology is outdated and cannot cope with the demands placed on it, which in turn means that no product can leave the UK,” he said.
“These are not ‘seed problems’ as the government reported, and the consequences of these problems will be catastrophic for the lives of fishermen, fishing villages and the seafood industry as a whole.
“Urgent action must be taken to allow procedures to be realigned in a way that reflects the time constraints faced in exporting live shellfish to Europe.”
Gary Hodgson, director of Venture Seafoods, which exports live and processed crabs and lobsters to the EU, said he had canceled several trucks since December due to the arduous bureaucracy now involved in exporting to the EU.
He said an operator needed 400 pages of export documentation last week to board a ferry to the EU.
Seafood trucks from all over the UK came to protest against bureaucracy delaying their entry into the EU
Those who participated in the protest said the government needed to understand the severity of the problems they face and the impact on coastal communities, many of which depend on sales of seafood to the EU to survive.
They want a more viable system and say there is a shortage of personalized agents on both sides of the Canal.
Jimmy Buchan, executive director of the Scottish Seafood Association, said they had seen little improvement in the fortnight since the new rules were implemented.
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He said: “There has been a lot of direct engagement between the industry and ministers and officials in recent days, and a lot of reassuring words about solving ‘early problems’.
“But these are not minor impediments to trade. Industry in Scotland has basically come to a standstill and companies employing hundreds of people in communities around our coast are losing money.”
“In some cases they are close to sinking.
“It is time for our government to control what is now a full-blown crisis, and fast, before severe and lasting damage is done to the sector.”
Scottish seafood exporter DR Collin and Son sent some trucks to the protest
The fishing industry warned that fishing companies could collapse within days, but Chancellor Dominic Raab said on Sunday the delays were only “initial problems.”
He told the BBC he was “not convinced” that the delays were due to the government’s trade deal with the EU and argued that it “will create huge sustainable opportunities” for the sector.
Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a committee of parliamentarians that the fishing companies would be compensated for what he described as “temporary frustrations.”
