Salmon farmers face £3m post-Brexit bill as export scheme halted

But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said that the trial will end on September 30 and that there is no immediate replacement planned. It has been met with dismay by the salmon industry, which says that the decision will add to the red tape and costs of exporting salmon to Europe.

Defra wrote to exporters: “Whilst moving to a fully digital service for export health certificates remains our ambition, we are planning to bring the current exercise to a close.”

The Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation (SSPO) said that the decision was “a hammer blow to the Scottish salmon industry”. The scheme had been “working well” and its removal would make it “even harder and more expensive” for exporters to comply with EU regulations, it said.

The SSPO called on the government to urgently find a replacement for the scheme, saying that it was vital for the future of the Scottish salmon industry. It said the salmon industry was worth £760m to the economy but other sectors selling chilled food, including poultry and cheese, could also have benefited from the digital certification.

Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, said: “We have been informed of a further delay to the introduction of an end-to-end digitised export paperwork system, which leaves salmon companies with ongoing red tape costs which have already been racking up for more than two-and-a-half years.”

The decision to halt the trial comes at a time when the UK salmon industry is already facing a number of challenges. The industry has been hit by rising costs, including the cost of feed and energy. It was also badly affected by the Covid pandemic, which disrupted supply chains and reduced demand for salmon.

Scott added: “Farm-raised salmon is the UK’s largest food export, and we need governments to reduce the burden on our sector so that we can grow sustainably, produce more nutritious food, create highly skilled jobs, and boost the Scottish and UK economies.”

In addition to the salmon industry, the halting of the trial could also have a knock-on effect on other fish exporters in the UK. The system was designed to be used by all fish and chilled food exporters.

The move comes just days after UK government yet again postponed post-Brexit checks on fresh farm produce coming to the UK, giving a free pass to continental rivals while all fresh food exports from the UK to the European Union still face checks. 

Health certification on imports of “medium-risk” products were due to start in October with physical checks beginning in January 2024 but are now widely expected to be kicked into the long grass until after the general election. Nick von Westenholz, director of trade at the NFU, said yesterday any further delay would exasperate many farmers, who face barriers for their exports which are not put on imports from overseas.