Call for a Scottish customs clearance centre for seafood exports to cope with Brexit

A Scottish customs clearance house that would allow seafood and fish exports to flow faster into Europe should be established at ports, MSPs have been told.

Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, said the idea should be considered by the new fishing taskforce established by the UK Government, which is due to meet on Friday, as well as new measures to reduce the costs of red tape for small businesses.

Addressing Holyrood’s Europe and external affairs committee, Mr Buchan said while hold-ups at the border had eased since the chaos of the first few weeks in January, the operation of exports still needed to be smoother.

He encouraged governments to “take the politics out” of the issue, saying: “The governments of Scotland and the UK need to sit down with their counterparts in the EU because we’ve got to find a slicker, smoother, faster route to market. People will be critical of that, but all things are possible and what you need is a willingness on both sides and better outcomes can flow from that.

A Scottish customs clearance centre is being proposed by the fishing industry.

“The deal we now have falls far short of any aspiration of anyone in the seafood trade, whether a catcher, processor or logistics operator. It is the worst-case scenario where we’re now having businesses struggling to get seafood to market.

“What needs to be put in place to help improve the situation is government assistance to help with the cost of the health certificates, the paperwork trail ... all these things cost money and even in a small company if you now have an extra £200 per consignment and five consignments a day, he’s got £1,000 coming out the bottom line of his business, and that’s where small businesses have been hit really bad.

"We’ve got to have a system that compensates for that loss or we’ll lose that business.”

Mr Buchan added: “I’ve also suggested we should be looking at a Scottish customs clearance house, so all products are all cleared in Scotland and the seafood can flow faster into Europe and it doesn’t have the border controls, but that’s a political decision and far beyond what I can negotiate.”

SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson suggested such a clearance house could act like US customs officers at Dublin airport.

He said: “We know a model like that exists. If we have French customs officials or people authorised by French customs service in Peterhead and other ports, as distribution centres, that would be helpful.”

Mr Buchan agreed, adding: "We are still getting some reports back saying border control are slow, there are still issues about the colour of the ink on the stamp on the paperwork ... there should be an industry standard across the EU and the UK so we’re singing off the same hymn sheet.

"That all needs to be ironed out to get rid of the lack of confidence so we can put more fish into the system and it doesn’t get stuck.

"That’s why we should look at a Scottish customs clearance house because the seafood, which is perishable and time limited, can be approved, signed and sealed in Scotland and can go right through to Europe, where thousands of jobs depend on the seafood there, to allow businesses to operate more smoothly.”

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.