RE: More Brexit good news .9 Jan 2021 15:35
Part of the letter to Alok Sharma:
As I write, perishable goods that were dispatched from our facility five days ago, headed for France following a process that your department advised, have still not crossed the border. This usually takes only 24 hours because they are consolidated with the produce of other companies, which have not been able to follow the correct procedures due to a knowledge gap directly attributable to your department.
Entire trucks are currently being rejected without explanation by the French customs authority. Our hauliers have now pulled their services as such a backlog has been created. Other hauliers are not taking on new customers. Today, we've even had confirmation that the IT systems of the UK and France are incompatible. After four years you only establish this now?
Your so-called 'deal' is worthless if this situation is not fixed immediately, and unless you put in place measures to address the issues that continue to unfold on a daily basis. Moreover, as a seafood exporter, it feels as though our own government has thrown us into the cold Atlantic waters without a lifejacket.
Yours sincerely, Victoria Leigh-Pearson, Sales Director, John Ross
Perfect storm
John Ross is not the only Scottish seafood exporter suffering. The industry says it has been hit by a "perfect storm" of Brexit disruption, which could sink a centuries-old industry.
"These businesses are not transporting toilet rolls or widgets. They are exporting the highest quality, perishable seafood which has a finite window to get to markets in peak condition," said Donna Fordyce, chief executive of Seafood Scotland.
"If the window closes, these consignments go to landfill."
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