Brexit red tape: UK ports demand government help for fish exporters

Brexit red tape: UK ports demand government help for fish exporters

Britain's ports have called on the UK government to ease the plight of seafood exporters whose experience with post-Brexit red tape is preventing their produce from reaching EU markets.The British Ports Association (BPA) wants ministers to seek a "pragmatic approach" with EU countries, particularly France, on enforcing new rules. It also calls for export processes to be eased, for more environmental health officers at ports as "the shortage is adding delays", and for better guidance as official government advice is "not good enough and often goes round in circles".On Monday, as seafood hauliers took their trucks to Westminster to highlight the bureaucratic snarl-up and lost revenue they have endured, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised a £23 million (€25.8 million) compensation fund for the fishing industry. Details are expected later this week.In its letter to ministers, the BPA asks for "financial support for ports that underpin the UK fisheries sector" similar to funds promised by the EU to coastal states under an agreed Brexit adjustment package.The post-Brexit trade deal struck by the EU and the UK on Christmas Eve secured tariff-free, quota-free access to each other's markets. But the UK's departure from the EU's trading structures has brought a multitude of