UK farmers say exports will be hit by post-Brexit regulation

The UK meat industry has warned that a new post-Brexit regulation being imposed on farmers by the British government will have a “devastating effect” on producers and their ability to export to the EU.

From December 13 the UK Department for Agriculture will require tens of thousands of farmers to obtain formal attestations from qualified vets about the health of their animals earmarked for slaughter and export.

The department’s new regulation is a big shift from an existing requirement for farmers to certify that vet visits have taken place, according to a letter sent by 14 industry lobby groups to the agriculture minister Mark Spencer, urging him to reconsider or delay the measure.

They said the regulation would have a devastating effect on farmers, auction markets and meat processors by preventing exports to the EU.

“We believe it will have an immediate impact on livestock prices here in the UK as well as causing significant and costly disruption for the supply chain,” added the 14 lobby groups, which included the National Farmers’ Union, the Pig Association, the National Poultry Council and the British Meat Processors Association.

They said that with the cost of living crisis starting to bite, the additional bureaucracy could lead to higher prices in UK supermarkets as farmers sought to compensate for lost exports.

More than 70 per cent of UK meat exports, worth nearly £1bn last year, go to the EU.

The bloc’s export rules require farmers to show their animals are regularly inspected by qualified vets.

While farmers declaring vet visits have taken place meets Brussels’ requirements, the agriculture department’s stricter approach to enforcing the regulation risks the UK industry losing a “significant portion” of its EU export market overnight because there is insufficient bandwidth in the system to enable compliance with the bureaucracy, the 14 lobby groups told Spencer in their letter.

The UK has a serious shortage of vets. Since Brexit, the UK has struggled to find sufficient numbers of official vets to certify food and drink exports to the EU, which now requires so-called export health certificates because Britain has left the bloc’s regulatory system for agrifood products.

The UK Food Standards Agency admitted in a parliamentary report this month that the staffing of abattoirs, where vets are required to sign off meat as safe, had become “hand to mouth” in the autumn last year. At that time, only 210 vets were available, while 260 were typically needed.

British farms that are accredited to food quality assurance schemes including Red Tractor Assurance, Quality Meat Scotland and Farm Assured Welsh Livestock are due to be exempted from the new UK regulation requiring qualified vets’ attestations on the health of animals.

But tens of thousands of other British farms are not covered by these schemes.

The 14 lobby groups said that of 125,000 sheep and cattle holdings in Great Britain, Red Tractor covered less than 50,000, with another 20,000 accredited to the Welsh and Scottish schemes.

Richard Findlay, chair of the NFU livestock board, said the additional red tape would make trade with the EU “virtually impossible” for many farmers. 

“It would add an unnecessary burden to an already stretched veterinary sector and pile on further costs to farmers who are already struggling with soaring fertiliser, feed and fuel prices, which would lead to large quantities of beef and lamb cuts being rendered ineligible for export,” he added.

The agriculture department said it was aware of concerns raised by industry about the process of providing evidence of regular vet visits.

“We are engaging with businesses and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to try and ease the burden on exporters in meeting these EU requirements,” it added.