Scottish salmon producers are spending an extra £200,000 a month on extra paperwork because of Brexit, according to figures collated by the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO).
The industry body argued that the Export Health Certificate (EHC) needs to be re-designed to avoid future delays.
The SSPO criticised the bureaucracy, which meant salmon was not arriving in France on time leading to lost orders, discounted sales and annoyed customers.
Numerous boxes have to be crossed out by certifying officers, scoring out all products which the supplier is not exporting to the EU. This often leads to confusion and mistakes, causing delays both in the UK and at the EU border posts.
Tavish Scott, chief executive of the SSPO, said it needed to be redrawn and simplified.
It now takes about two hours for each seafood load to be processed and given an export health certificate for transport to the EU and, in some cases, this process is taking four hours or longer.
Scottish salmon producers have had to cope with significant delays since the transition period ended on 1 January and the full effects of Brexit came into effect. The delays are said to have cost the industry around £11m.
The £2.5m annual bill will come on top of the delays, cancellations and problems which have already cost the sector millions of pounds in lost orders, lower prices and cancelled harvests.
Scott has asked the UK Government to look into this issue as a matter of urgency and he raised the issue personally with Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove, on a recent call. He claims to have received a verbal assurance from
“Seafood exports are fundamentally important for both the Scottish and UK economies - salmon is the UK’s number one food export," said Scott. "So we need the government to reduce the costs and complexity that our sector faces.”
He added: “I welcome the commitment that the UK Government has given to initiate a system review of Export Health Certificates - they were never designed for perishable products like salmon and therefore never should have been the document we are forced to use as exporters.
“Progress on this is vitally important for our salmon sector and the seafood industry.”
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