The fourth delay in introducing the checks left the farming industry aghast. Spot checks have already revealed that sub-standard meat is entering the country and the industry is terrified that the failure to inspect imports properly could lead to an outbreak of African Swine Fever or another highly contagious and devastating disease. But the government insisted that at a time of rising prices, it would be madness to introduce checks at the UK’s borders.
But the real reason for the delay to the checks is now becoming clearer. Brennan says that when they come – and they are now just eight months away – they will cause a huge problem. The current shortages are just a small sign of what may lie ahead.
As he explains, when those new controls were expected to be introduced last year, “We were clear at that time that this would have collapsed a significant part of the food supply chain into the UK”.
In short, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Funnily enough, the real issue would not be with fruit and veg, which are not heavily checked. The problems would arise mainly with meat and dairy products and anything containing either.
They not only require extensive checking, many need to be approved by vets as well. But the main problem as Shane Brennan told me is “because of what we call groupage. That is small business loads, with more than one customer on the same lorry – (the customers) would have faced significant additional costs and disruption and they would have just stopped doing it. We know that would have happened because it is what happened to exports when the EU introduced the same controls” on UK exports to the EU in 2021. '
