Britain facing cheese ‘blockade’ in fears of Christmas shortages | UK | News
Britain is facing a “blockade” on cheese and meat products from Europe as new Brexit border checks are set to go live in November. The extra red tape, intended to “protect UK consumers and businesses”, will mean that cheese and meat selections will be “severely reduced” for the two months running up to Christmas. A vet will have to sign off on all imports of “medium risk” food, including unpasteurised cheese, and both fresh and frozen meat from November 1.
The checks, which are mandatory under both the terms of the Brexit trade deal and World Trade Organisation rules, were last delayed in April this year.
But after Whitehall’s initial plans for border controls were dismissed as unworkable, officials came back with the new model last month.
Ministers involved plans to finally introduce safety checks that have been delayed since Britain left the EU at the start of 2020.
Shane Brennan, the chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, warned the controls would make it much harder to bring some goods into the UK.
“We’re going to see EU-based cheese and meat suppliers finding on November 1 that they can’t fulfil their Christmas orders,” he told the Telegraph.
“It’s going to come as a massive shock to the system, and there will be paralysis as a result while everything has to reset.
“We’re not talking about shelves being empty. We’re talking about the choice being severely reduced, particularly in the first eight to 12 weeks.
“Some goods will not be available at all in the UK at first, and then they will be much more limited in supply and much more expensive.”
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But some sectors, notably the farming industry, have pushed hard for checks to be brought in on goods arriving from the EU to protect their production lines.
They claim it will save businesses £400 million a year, compared with the original plan, and create a “world-class” digital…
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