Scotland’s farmed salmon sector has urged the UK government to speed up the removal of bureaucratic post-Brexit paperwork for exporting goods to the EU.
Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, previously the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, warned that companies have faced an extra £3 million in export costs each year since the UK left the EU.
In a letter to UK Fisheries Minister Victoria Prentis, Mr Scott called for the shift to a digital export health certificate (EHC) system to be accelerated. The new system is due to replace costly paper processes but no date has yet been set for roll out.
“Salmon producing companies are already having to cope with steeply rising production costs and now face increased paperwork costs because of the EHC changes which were introduced in January [2021],” wrote Mr Scott.
“We really believe that the time taken to process EHCs will reduce considerably when the system is moved online, that the number of errors will be massively reduced and the whole system will need fewer staff and less time to process – cutting down the costs and delays which are plaguing the system at the moment.”
Mr Scott also called for the UK government to cover extra costs being imposed on businesses as a direct result of the current export system.
Farm-raised salmon is the UK’s largest food export, with overseas sales of salmon exceeding £600 million last year.
