Government have pledged £23m pounds to support exporters of seafood to the EU who have been ‘most adversely affected’ by the COVID pandemic and the challenges of adjusting to new customs regimes for exporting following our EU exit on 1 January 2021.
As reported on the news recently many fishing firms have been struggling with extra paperwork, delays at ports and sharply falling exports.
Monday saw demonstrations in central London by fish exporters worried that their livelihoods are at risk. UK exports are now subject to new customs and other checks which have led to delays at the ports. For many seafood exporters whose cargo is fresh, time really is of the essence and some have seen their cargo rejected at the point of delivery due to excessive delays.
According to news reports Defra have said the new funding scheme is targeted at small and medium operators and will cover losses incurred since 1 January 2021 of up to £100,000.
More details of the scheme and its eligibility criteria is due to be released soon and will come as a welcome relief to many. You can read the government announcement here.
There have been reports recently of 24 hour delays which for any perishable cargo is just catastrophic. Government is planning to provide further support for businesses in adapting to the new export processes which will come through DEFRA and HMRC.
Michael Gove also recently pledged a £100m funding package to help modernise UK fishing fleets and fish processing.
All data and figures referred to in our news section are correct at the date of publishing and should not be relied upon as still current.