SNP ‘ignored warnings over f ish exports ahead of Brexit’
FISHING bosses have accused SNP Ministers of failing to do more to safeguard exports in the run up to Brexit.
They claim the Scottish Government was repeatedly warned more needed to be done to ensure Scottish seafood could reach the continent.
The sector has struggled to cope with leaving the EU, with additional customs checks and tariffs costing millions of pounds in lost business.
Last week, a UK Government official claimed almost £50 million provided to the Scottish Government, to prepare for Brexit, had been unspent.
The Scottish Government insisted it was included in the 2020-21 Budget, but that did not include any extra cash for fishing, nor did extra funds in the EU section make any reference to the sector.
Fishermen say they wanted customs clearing centres in Scotland to ensure lorries could travel directly to Europe, without being stuck in Kent, and an additional hub in the North-East to process health check certificates.
Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, said: ‘I raised at every meeting that we needed a hub in the North-East and no one listened.’ Andrew Charles, partner in the J Charles fish processing factory, said: ‘As an industry we knew in 2019 that the Brexit deal was looking like being a very poor one for fish processing exporters.
‘There were things the Scottish Government could have done to take away that threat.
We could have had customs checks for lorries in the ports so they could speed straight to market, but it would have needed negotiations with officials in Europe and the UK.
‘The Scottish Government was told, every three to four months right up to Brexit, that we had serious problems.’
Last week, Alex Chisholm, UK Civil Service chief operating officer, told the UK Public Audit Committee, that of the money given to the Scottish Government to prepare for Brexit, ‘around £48 or £49 million remain to be spent’. Scottish Ministers dispute this.
The Scottish Government said: ‘Export delays are down to issues we have warned about for years, and consequences of a Brexit deal being struck only days before the end of the transition period with little time for businesses to prepare.’
‘Scottish Government knew of problems’