The Brexit referendum thread: potential consequences for GB, EU and the Brits in CH

[JackieH]

We talked about the music world the other day- but now it is the horse world which is in despair- show jumping and racing - people who generally voted for Brexit and now find that their whole world is coming tumbling down- as they won't be able to export their horses for major competition or races

From Horse and Hounds

''William Funnell reflects on the impact of Brexit and Covid on the sport

Many British riders, myself included, should have been heading to one of the many tours in Europe by now. But, of course, things are very different this year and we’ve been waiting it out at home, weighing up not only how Covid is affecting everything, but the impact Brexit has had, too.

The main knock-on from Brexit has been the extensive paperwork, not to mention cost, involved in transporting horses across the Channel since 1 January. The forms we had just over a month ago that certified us able to drive in Europe are no longer valid.''


And of course, unless someone can deny this with evidence- said paperwork and costs will be for each country if the show-jumpers and racers go from one competition/race to another in another EU country.

[grumpygrapefruit]

	Quote:	Jim2007
	But what is the actual problem, I’m assuming that the people involved have the ability to complete a form in their native language once they sit down to do so. - the tests need before completion of the form? - accumulating the information needed? - ???

Last year when a company wanted to export any animal based food products (meat, cheese, fish etc) to an EU country or CH from the UK they just had to email or fax the paperwork to an export agent at Dover, or wherever they were transiting through, and once there pick up a transfer document and the truck would be on their way.

Now, the UK, as in any country exporting to the EU and CH (and although CH isn't a full member of the EU, it is in the single market) all animal based food products have to have a Veterinary test (to check for Listeria etc) before transit documents can be handed over as part of the export documents. These tests (certainly for cheese, they may differ for other products) cost £180.00 and can take a few days.

If a pallet of 20 or 30 cheeses is being sent from the UK, and if one of those cheeses has the wrong paperwork, or the wrong box has been ticked, then the whole pallet is returned - and that is what has been happening last month. And it's not EU customs officials who are sending the pallets back (as was claimed by a Brexit voting customer of mine last week - just to spite the UK he said) it's the UK based export agents who cannot issue Transfer documents if the paperwork is not correct.

I'm now talking to a couple of Irish cheese wholesalers about getting a pallet of cheese over from there - there are some amazing artisan cheeses from the south (some I often stocked) and of course there is no testing or extra paperwork required to get it to CH. Lucky Ireland, she's in the EU

A good friend of mine is a vet in the UK (although she works with live animals) and she told me the Veterinary testing centres are overwhelmed, and there was little or no preparation last year to be ready for the extra demand. And food exporters in the main seemed to not know that testing would be required prior to exporting.

But it's not just animal based products that are having trouble getting through. A large wholesaler and Cash and Carry in the UK (they supply lots of small grocery stores in the UK and export to the EU) stopped taking orders from customers on the mainland at the end of the 1st week of Jan. The reason being more than half the pallets they sent out, or were collected by customers transport agents, were returned to their warehouses as not all of the paperwork was correct. I know one company here in CH who has 2 pallets stuck there, paid for in advance and no idea when they will be cleared for export.

[JackieH]

So it is not quite like that then

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Rema...9775923630417/

[grumpygrapefruit]

	Quote:	amogles
	If you browse through the smaller grocery shops in Zürich, for example in the Langstrasse area, there are shops there with shelves and shelves of stuff from Serbia, from Turkey, from Russia, from Lebanon, and further afield even - yay, including cheese, frozen fish, etc. So obviously there is a way. The exporters just need to get their act together.

Yes of course. But the UK government had over 4 years to prepare the industry, and it did nothing. It just kept saying that everything would be the same as before. And of course it never could or would be.

[MusicChick]

I was an interpreter in one of my earlier lives, for imports from Koberco Kaas/Royal Holandia, Danish blue cheeses and Greek feta. We weren't in the EU yet. Giant turn over, a massive amount of paperwork for each truck, including custom clearances, vet license for each refrigerated truck, etc. The drivers had to stick to a preplanned itinerary, schedule, breaks over the weekends, tech papers for the truck, etc. There was always some problem, since mass exports to EE were new. But it worked. I wish the UK to figure it out asap, I can imagine it is even more pita at Covid times...but crossing fingers for them. I hope my Marmite is coming, too.

[JackieH]

Thank you Music, for explaining clearly why it is not a good idea to go back to those good old days. Who on earth would actually choose to have to go through all this red tape, checks, tariffs, extra costs? Who would vote for this nightmare? Perfectly illustrated by your post above.

[JackieH]

71 pages of red tape for on lorry of fish. And problem is, just like for cheese, several exporters share 1 lorry to cut on cost, etc- it used to work


https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55887043

[st2lemans]

	Quote:	JackieH
	71 pages of red tape for on lorry of fish. And problem is, just like for cheese, several exporters share 1 lorry to cut on cost, etc- it used to work https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55887043

I posted this 25 hours ago!

Tom

[JackieH]

What about this one?


https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status...137255936?s=20

so is he a massive liar, or totally incompetent- or both?

From frictionless Trade - to Tradeless friction

[Urs Max]

	Quote:	RufusB
	Bag of fleas? NI is, has been, always will be, a hot potato, politically speaking.

That's much better put, thanks. I didn't mean to disrespect.

So, from what jim2007 writes, there's no way the Irish would pay €8bln in subsidies to NI each year like the British do, once they give it a thought.

What about the British, they guys in the street? Would they even care if NI left and united with Eire?

[greenmount]

	Quote:	JackieH
	Thank you Music, for explaining clearly why it is not a good idea to go back to those good old days. Who on earth would actually choose to have to go through all this red tape, checks, tariffs, extra costs? Who would vote for this nightmare? Perfectly illustrated by your post above.

Yes. I'd like to thank her too, the whole process brings back memories from the time my brother had a small import-export company.

[Island Monkey]

	Quote:	Urs Max
	What about the British, they guys in the street? Would they even care if NI left and united with Eire?

I don’t think the English, Scottish and Welsh would generally mind if NI wanted to unite with Ireland. But it’s not about them, it’s about what the people of NI want, and many want to remain British (like Gibraltar, Falklands etc) .... but a proportion want to be Irish.

[grumpygrapefruit]

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	Perhaps you had not noticed that both Switzerland & the UK are both Non EU. Importing to CH has always been a pain even if just from France. I think you need to campaign for Switzerland to join the EU.

No it hasn't, I did it for years myself, driving my own van over, through France, Germany and sometimes even Austria. It was always very simple. Do you have any personal experiences as to why you say it has always been a pain?

[st2lemans]

	Quote:	JackieH
	Who would vote for this nightmare?

I would, in a heartbeat!

Tom

[JackieH]

Well a few would- same who would have voted for Turmp perhaps.

I can however assure you, 100%, that if people in the UK would be asked to vote now, the Brexit vote would be about 20%, if that.

[st2lemans]

	Quote:	grumpygrapefruit
	Do you have any personal experiences as to why you say it has always been a pain?

I do, importing motorcycle parts commercially pre and post the bilaterals, I have seen no change.

Tom

[st2lemans]

	Quote:	JackieH
	Well a few would- same who would have voted for Turmp perhaps.

The only reason to vote for Trump was, and has always been, because of the horrid alternatives.

Tom

[JackieH]

	Quote:	st2lemans
	I do, importing motorcycle parts commercially pre and post the bilaterals, I have seen no change. Tom

Never thought of those as 'live animal products', somehow- weird that

shall I groan for you or just wait 2 seconds?

[st2lemans]

Parts is parts.

Tom

[JackieH]

Nope- did you read Grumpy's post. Live animal products are facing veterinary and so many other checks they never did before. FACT.

Also small importers of said animal products in Switzerland have to team up with or buy from, larger importers that import from UK to EU- then on to Switzerland for part of the loads.