Big day for getting Brexit done … (again)… it’s hard to underestimate how important these controls are implemented will be for our food supply chain - some key points before we see the detail … inews.co.uk/news/politics/… 1. It’s not a fast track compared the status quo today where there are no border controls - there should have been since 1 Jan 21 but they have been held back because of inevitable disruption

This is disgusting to see and shows that businesses and consumers have to be on constant watch for food fraud - but the implications of this for our post Brexit control policy is more nuanced than knee jerk takes

thetimes.co.uk/article/36085a… 1/ The concern here is that the indefinite relaxation of food safety paperwork checks has sent a signal to food fraudsters that the UK is a soft touch and that this has created opportunity - it’s a real concern ..BUT 2/

Let’s wait and see - this is not a good sign but queues build up at Dover Calais regularly.

Gov has been assertively confident, up to and since 1 Jan - that this type of thing was not going to happen because of their planning - we’ve always been sceptical …

https://twitter.com/itvjoel/status/1484610507780857863

Dover/Calais is a very narrow funnel and minor delays in moving through port = big tailbacks. If things are getting bad now that is not good because volumes are still low due to post-Xmas reset and pandemic interruptions to demand and production - still at least 20% more to come

It’s a shame that we are in a cycle of endless incremental and largely unconnected announcements - all crafted for more for media / political audiences and (I regret) not based on considered consultation with industry - 1/

https://twitter.com/SteveBarclay/status/1448741802291470347

I doubt the Gov has any evidence that ‘cabotage’ restrictions is the reason we have less non-UK trucks adding capacity to the supply chain - I regret that it is probably this poorly conceived and argued piece or similar soundings taken by ministers that prompted this decision 2/

https://twitter.com/CapX/status/1445700247238287362

Private sector must deliver truck stops says PM again in the speech - it's not the government's job apparently - lets try and break this soundbite down thread ... 1/ First things first, the PM was essentially saying that 'business' was responsible for delivering truck stops - he was deliberately implying that it is responsibility of the HGV companies to fund truck stops - which HGV company? all of them? should they all build their own? 2/

Don’t Panic! The supply chain shortages story that has been in the media in one form or another solidly for the past 8 weeks now, and intermittently for most of the past 18 months is ramping up again – here’s a🧵 pleading for calm heads, collaboration, and a new strategy. 1/ The media way into the story will always be about how it affects the public – will we run out of food, petrol…etc? It’s understandable, but all that does is two things (1) force companies/gov others on to the defence and (2) underplays the real crisis, which is about people 2/

As things get demonstrably worse for food supplies the gov / right commentariat have decided (yet again) to seek someone to blame rather than engage in solutions - now it’s the industry’s fault as bad employers providing terrible working conditions 1/ The same industry that has received praise for stepping up and keeping nation fed through covid. The same industry that has bailed gov out at every stage of its chaotic no deal brexit and the same commentariat that praises Brexit as a bonfire of red tape / employ protections 2/

I've had a number of media calls this week asking me to confirm that we are either currently, or are about to, see empty shelves in UK. I know it's an important story, and it is THE angle that makes it news, but it's still frustrating and I hate answering it ... because 1/ of course it's not simple - the food chain is massive, complex and interdependent. Stress in one area can sometimes be compensated for, other times not. A failed delivery could equal empty shelves today, but full tomorrow. Also order patterns change based on what is available. 2/

I’m late to this, but here is a🧵about just how non-trivial the #sausagewars / wider #NIProtocol food supply issues are. At its core is an illustration just how far down a rabbit hole we are and how poor our understanding of what 'freedom to trade' actually means in practice 1/ Reminder @ColdChainFed represents logistics businesses. our members’ job is to get product from A to B, the more freely they can do that, the more responsive the market is to demand, the more open the market is to competition and the lower the cost of goods is to consumers. 2/

A legacy of Brexit will be the fallacy that stockpiling is THE way to anticipate and smooth supply chain shocks - I fear that this is overstated as the way to explain jan trade figures - esp in food- 🧵1/

https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1371033087950340097

Stockpiling is one limited tactic that was employed going into Jan (and other ‘no deals’) - reality is that (1) businesses also planned to buy/sell less. Brexit brinkmanship added to a general impulse to limit activity and reduce risks - i.e political chaos affected confidence 2

We are in month 3 of life post-single market (it feels like A LOT longer) - there has been no let up for food businesses who have just about kept the show on the road. But we fear that signals of this past week suggest things won't get better for the foreseeable - thread 1/ It is obvious what @DavidGHFrost is trying to do here, the continuation of the provocation strategy, with a convenient side of delighting a political base, but this only adds to the unease and uncertainty for food businesses that are pawns in the game 2/ telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…

“Post-Brexit trading is really hard”; “stuff is starting to move, but morale and motivation in the team is very low”; “trade has to pick up soon, but we don’t really know how it will.”
A thread of my article for @UKandEU 1/ ukandeu.ac.uk/red-tape-bette… Through the prism of the debate that has raged for the past four or five years years, things are great… or terrible, temporary…. or never-ending, largely dependent on what you think of the idea of #Brexit. The debate isn't over but logistics businesses have to block it out 2/

End of week 2 thread on post Brexit food trade

There is continued growing unease. The main picture remains one of depressed/tentative trade (c50% down y-o-y) and some high profile logistics business have taken the rational step to stop and regroup. theloadstar.com/rtr-db-schenke… The big worry here is that ‘not-trading’becomes a habit. We can’t/won’t carry on at half the volumes of before, but as volumes claw back we may only reach something like 80% of previous volumes and that is a disaster for a food industry already battered by a recession.

A live example of the issues on why businesses are not better prepared for post-Brexit red tape - thread

Over past few days I have been really annoyed with myself that I did not foresee and warn #coldchain members about key processes on food (SPS) exports that have come to fore Remember I am not a customs/trade expert, my knowledge comes from 2 years of engagement on government policy and acting as a conduit between industry and policy makers in Brexit preparations - others across industry are genuine experts and may have foretold this better than me

As @michaelgove admitted yesterday we are expecting significant disruption in our #trade flows with the EU in coming days. The fact he is willing to say this confirms what most of us feel, that problems are building. This thread is a summary of what I have learnt in the past week DISCLAIMER I run a trade body and spent the week in my back bedroom on the phone to members, reading the media and on zoom calls. I’m not on the ground and I am not in the operation rooms. So my info is second hand and partial. No one has a complete view. IT IS HIDEOUSLY COMPLEX

We haven't seen the text (disclaimer) but nonetheless here is my pre-Christmas thread in reaction. This is a #hardBrexit deal (by design) and that means for food it is hardest of all. No rabbits out of the hat - the UK gov have followed through on their stated intent...1/ All food exports from the UK into EU will be subject to the same checks and inspections as EU imports from Russia, Chile, and yes.. Australia - this despite the fact that the UK rules will be 100% the same rules on safety, env, and animal welfare 2/ ec.europa.eu/food/animals/p…

I'm coming to this a bit late but @michaelgove's attempt to dismiss our concerns about just how unprepared the UK is to operate a functioning border as 'part of the game' in parliament last month is pretty infuriating (#Brexit thread, cause we all love those) 1/ It's not hyperbole - it's a reality - @michaelgove told us in February that 'deal or no deal' the UK would conduct food health checks on EU goods - and that EU goods would be treated no differently to goods from anywhere else in the world - and yet ... 2/ gov.uk/government/new…