Exclusive: Government is urgently writing to the EU about the shellfish ban amid panic about a market collapse
The letter, which could go as soon as today, comes as UK officials say they were misled by the EU
Brussels says law for 3rd countries is clear politicshome.com/news/article/e…
What started as an esoteric consequence of Brexit has quickly emerged into a big UK-EU row
Angry UK officials insist that the EU has misled them over 3rd country rules for live shellfish
Brussels says it's DEFRA's fault for misunderstanding the law
politicshome.com/news/article/e…
Eustice is expected to sign the letter but Gove has also been involved in talks, in a sign of how seriously government is taking the issue
MPs heard yesterday that shellfish markets could be lost "entirely and permanently" without political intervention
politicshome.com/news/article/e…
The escalation timeline:
2020: DEFRA tells shellfish industry that post-Brexit EU ban on some exports ends in April
January: EU tells industry DEFRA is wrong, ban is indefinite
This week: UK accuses EU of changing its mind & misapplying its own law
Today: Angry UK writing to EU
Kingfisher Seafoods Limited’s Director Rob Benson: “Our business relies almost entirely on sending live cockles & mussels for further processing in the EU... We were bracing ourselves to keep going until April but this news has all but destroyed any hope we had of the future.”
New: The European Commission received George Eustice's letter about UK shellfish exports this morning, sources on both sides say
The letter says the UK wants a meeting with the EU to discuss it, I'm told
It'll be published soon
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