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9 Mar, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Exclusive: The government is planning to revive shellfish exports by the winter by building purification sites across the UK, George Eustice tells me

He said DEFRA would use the £100m fishing fund to set up facilities if the EU doesn't change its rules

politicshome.com/news/article/g…
Eustice said the EU was "not in a position" to discuss its prohibition on live shellfish caught in class B waters

If it doesn't budge, DEFRA will build purification sites nationwide before the end of the yr

How many traders can afford to wait that long?

politicshome.com/news/article/g…
Does Eustice understand why some fishers feel betrayed?

Gov "didn't get everything we wanted" in its trade deal w/ the EU and "that's no secret," he said

But leaving the SM/CU means “additional administration" that "businesses would always rather not do" politicshome.com/news/article/g…
Eustice also confirmed that government was "considering" plans to relax checks on EU imports set to be introduced in April & July

“The important thing is on import checks, it’s open to us to adopt a more pragmatic approach and adjust things as we see fit" politicshome.com/news/article/g…

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Adam Payne Profile picture
10 Mar
Several shellfish businesses have got in touch to explain why DEFRA's plan to build purification tanks in the UK won't revive live exports to the EU

Purification reduces shelf life and even if it didn't they'd need tanks as big as swimming pools, they say
politicshome.com/news/article/s…
So yday Eustice told me that DEFRA would use some of the £100m fishing fund to let shellfish businesses build their own purification tanks in time for winter trading

This would allow them to depurate mussels, cockles etc before sending them to EU

But... politicshome.com/news/article/g…
As Devon-based mussel exporter John Holmyard explained, purification reduces shelf life and his exports would die before or soon after arriving in Europe

Or as James Green, an Oyster exporter in Kent put it: buyers "in France do not want purified oysters" politicshome.com/news/article/s…
Read 5 tweets
Adam Payne Profile picture
8 Mar
Exclusive: The government is currently looking at a menu of options for postponing checks on EU imports planned to be in place by July 1st

One is gradually phasing them in from July 1st, while another is delaying them altogether, I'm told

politicshome.com/news/article/b…
Frost has asked officials to review the timetable for introducing checks on EU goods, as @tobyhelm & @Joe_Mayes have reported

There's "real nervousness" within HMG that delays could derail the reopening of hospitality and lead to empty supermarket shelves politicshome.com/news/article/b…
Frost is expected to put plans to potentially postpone checks on EU imports to Cabinet colleagues this week, potentially as soon as today

The first wave of checks are due to take effect in just over three weeks on April 1st politicshome.com/news/article/b…
Read 4 tweets
Adam Payne Profile picture
27 Feb
A perfect storm potentially awaits in a few months time when the UK begins checks on EU imports

The new paperwork will come in from April to July as restaurants & pubs reopen

Delays will affect veg, meat, cheese & wine when demand is expected to rocket politicshome.com/news/article/b…
"There would've been a full-blown crisis in NI in January had restaurants been open... same sort of thinking could play out for EU-UK flows," said @ColdChainShane

importers are set to face the same issues as exporters: overnight trade becoming 4/5 days politicshome.com/news/article/b…
What could that mean in practice?

Food suppliers being unable to meet a big increase in demand when hospitality reopens & the UK wants to celebrate

It threatens to disrupt "all businesses in the UK food industry" this spring/summer, warned @dominicgoudie politicshome.com/news/article/b…
Read 7 tweets
Adam Payne Profile picture
16 Feb
The post-Brexit rules for touring UK musicians are "absolutely stark," Deborah Annetts of the Incorporated Society of Musicians tells @commonscms

She says she has been "inundated from personal testimony from musicians as to the work they have lost or going to lose in Europe"
The new costs of touring in Europe for UK musicians are "absolutely huge," Annetts tells MPs

£600 for a one night gig in Spain, £500 in Italy, she says

Some musicians have told her they're considering packing in music altogether due to the new barriers

It's "heart rending"
MPs are hearing some bleak evidence...

Annetts says UK touring hauliers are on the brink of insolvency due to the impact of covid + post-Brexit barriers to EU touring

Lighting designer Paule Constable: musicians feel like they have to choose between being British or a musician
Read 5 tweets
Adam Payne Profile picture
9 Feb
Exclusive: The shellfish industry claims that DEFRA admitted it was wrong about shellfish exports

"They now say that they believe on balance that the EU view, that the trade is not legal, is in fact correct," the bombshell email seen by PoliticsHome says politicshome.com/news/article/s…
"They [DEFRA] have now changed this position," the email sent to shellfish exporters says

"This is in complete contrast to everything they have told us so far"

Labour: "are they incompetent or do they simply not care?"

Lib Dems tell Eustice to resign

politicshome.com/news/article/s…
Eustice today said the EU stance was "indefensible" and last week said it was "legally wrong"

Yesterday he expressed frustration in a letter to the Commission

However, behind the scenes DEFRA officials say that the UK was wrong, the industry has claimed
politicshome.com/news/article/s…
Read 6 tweets
Adam Payne Profile picture
8 Feb
New: Here is the letter George Eustice sent to the European Commission’s Stella Kyriakides this morning about UK shellfish exports to the EU, first reported by PoliticsHome on Friday
Eustice says the UK's live shellfish exports to the EU have "been in place for many years" and the new rules - live shellfish caught in most waters barred EU entry - are of "grave concern" to businesses

The UK has high standards and EU customers trust its business, he argues
Eustice accuses the EU of changing its position on shellfish, citing advice the UK received in September

That's it's "unexpected and difficult news for an industry that relies on trade between the UK & EU"

Reminder: EU says rules apply to all 3rd countries, have done for years
Read 13 tweets

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