With its departure from the European Union, the United Kingdom is experiencing the bitterness of the poison itself after Brexit. Because, for example, the export of meat to EU countries now has to face (and overcome) a difficult and lengthy bureaucratic process. To meet requirements which, in most cases, were created or suggested by the British themselves on imports from third countries outside the European Union.

Representative of the local meat industry, the Association of British Meat Processors (Bpma) is calling for help. It states that 20% of the sector’s exports are definitely lost and that to respond to transport, sanitary and customs requirements, around 30% to 40% of closed cargo shipments now made are costing 50% more than before Brexit. Or, as bpma points out, “to continue exporting to the European Union we will face an additional cost estimated between 90 and 120 million pounds”.

Seeking to demonstrate the difficulties that the meat industry now faces to reach the EU, the entity has drawn up a document in which it illustrates with an example – export, to Paris, of a batch of pork chops – the pre and post-Brexit bureaucracy.

By December 31, 2020, with an international consignment note (CMR), the transporter simply loaded the truck and the process was terminated. Time: 10 minutes and a single document.
Since January 1, 2021: until the truck leaves the factory, 20 different documents are required, which consumes between 4 and 12 hours. But this does not conclude the process, because, until it arrives in Paris, the cargo goes through nine other bureaucratic processes (passage through border posts, Customs and sanitary supervision, etc.).
To minimize these (for the British, unprecedented) challenges, the BPMA calls for (1) internal improvement in inspection and certification systems; (2) electronic documentation (even the color of the ink of a stamp on an invoice has hampered shipments); and, (3) search for sanitary equivalence with the EU.

In the words of the entity, “we can learn from other countries whose systems are much more flexible… to obtain services efficiently and economically”.

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The Interprofessional Organisation for sheep and goats meat, Interovic, has secured seven million euros for the promotion of lamb and kid meat in the internal market. This is the third consecutive program granted by the Executive Agency for Consumers, Health and food of the European Commission (Chafea) to the Interprofessional.

It is a continuation of the multi-country program that Interovic is currently developing in Spain and Hungary and whose objective is to promote the sustainable nature of the sector.

The first campaign, carried out from 2015 to 2017, focused on modernizing the way these foods are marketed through new cuts. The second, from 2018 to 2020, promoted the sustainable nature of sheep and goat production. The latter plans to keep focusing on a related message, but this time with the addition of the hospitality industry.

Raúl Muñiz, the president of Interovic, has indicated that “having these resources provides an opportunity for the sector as it allows us to multiply by four the funds raised through the Extension of the Standard and that just renew now”, adding that thanks to the contribution of all the sector have managed to position itself as “the flesh sustainable” and will continue to convey this message to the whole of society.

“We are proud to know that Europe is betting on us again. This project is one of the selected of a total of 49 that were presented in the 2020 call, Interovic bet on promoting the sustainability of the sector and the granting of this campaign gives us the necessary support from the European Commission to be able to transfer this to the whole of society”, said Tomás Rodríguez, director of Interovic.

The campaign to the sustainability of sheep and goats meat will run from 2021 to 2023 with a budget of 6.975.000 euros. Approximately 2.7 million euros will be invested each year (two million in Spain and the rest in Hungary).

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MKTPlace is a leading digital and social media platform for traders and investors. MKTPlace offers premiere resources for trading and investing education, digital resources for personal finance, news about IoT, AI, Blockchain, Business, market analysis and education resources and guides.