Brexit plans will place ‘huge burden’ on salmon sector

BORIS Johnson’s non-alignment Brexit deal is likely to place huge burdens on the salmon sector, claimed the SSPO (Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation).

Under government plans to pursue a loose trade arrangement with the EU, salmon exports may need Export Health Certificates (EHCs) after the end of this year, when the transition phase is over.

Until now, the certificates have not been required because of free movement of goods within the EU, but it is understood that government officials have warned the

SPPO to prepare for the extra bureacracy from next year. If EHCs are introduced, the cost for Scottish farmed salmon, the UK’s biggest food export, will be between £1.3 million and £8.7 million per year depending on the amount charged by councils for each EHC and the number of EHCs required per lorry load. It would also involve the processing of an extra 50,000 to 100,000 EHCs every year, each one of which has to be signed by either an environmental health officer or a vet.

This will need extra staff at the main haulage distribution hub, the DFDS base at Larkhall in South Lanarkshire, and delays and hold ups in the dispatch of salmon to the continent.

It is estimated that about 300 orders of Scottish salmon are sent to Europe each day from DFDS, in about 35 lorry loads. The annual £8.7 million figure is based on 300 orders per day, each one needing an EHC at a cost of £80 per certificate.

The £1.3 million figure is based on 300 orders a day but with each EHC costing

£12 per order – if only one certificate per lorry load is demanded.

Hamish Macdonell: Page 18