TALK about twisting a knife in an open wound! Well that’s exactly what the UK Government is doing to UK food exporters by deciding to grant EU imports a free ride into the UK for a further 6-12 months.

Checks on imports were due to be introduced in stages from April 1 and from July 1, but the Government is now having to U-turn on its post-Brexit policy due to a lack of infrastructure at UK ports.

Quite rightly, there had been concerns that delays at the ports could lead to empty supermarket shelves which would impact on consumers. Many businesses here that rely on imports from the EU are breathing a sigh of relief, but it doesn’t offer much consolation for UK food exporters who have had to grapple with untested systems since January 1.

Despite pleas for a grace period, our food exporters only had seven days over Christmas – in the middle of a pandemic – to prepare for the mountains of paperwork and physical inspections that have resulted in friction, delay, losses, and excess costs.

The chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, James Withers, said the empathy being shown to importers was in stark contrast to our export businesses, many of which he said felt they had been “thrown to the wolves” 10 weeks ago.

Grim figures just released from the ONS reveal that EU-bound consignments for January 2021 were down 63% compared to the previous year. This cannot just be swept under the carpet as a Covid issue; there was not a fall like that at any point during the first lockdown.

Scottish fish and shellfish exports were down by a crippling 83%, with meat and dairy sectors reporting a dramatic fall in EU exports of 59% and 50% respectively.

Read more - Archaic trading system is strangling UK exports

Under the new changes, export health certificate (EHC) requirements for Products of Animal Origin (POAO) coming into the UK will be moved from April 1 to October 1 2021. And Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks on POAO will now not be required until January 2022, at which point they will take place at Border Control Posts.

I’m sure I’m not the first – and won’t be the last – to gasp at the utter irony of the situation. Brexiteers will be questioning Government promises to ‘take back control’ – a phrase we have all had to keep hearing over the past four years. Take back control, to then what? Relinquish it, by giving the EU a first-class ticket into the UK market while our food producers are now having to compete on an unfair playing field?

NFU Scotland pointed out that the decision to delay the reciprocal border control process has been taken without progressing “essential negotiations” with the EU to secure agreement on equivalence on SPS trade standards. Priority must be given to removing the constraints on export trade which are strangling Scottish agri-food sector exports, and not simply handing over an unfair advantage to our European neighbours.

This is no way for the Government to be treating food producers in this country, many of whom have gone above and beyond to feed the nation during the pandemic, despite the constant challenges experienced across the supply chain; battling to meet consumer demand whilst having to accommodate strict social distancing measures.

The public are now more focused than ever on where their food comes from and how it is produced. Transparency in our food supply chains builds consumer trust, so we mustn’t jeopardise this relationship by allowing unchecked imports to find their way into our food service sector – where lack of origin labelling means they can go undetected by the public.

Despite growing pressure on our hotels and restaurants to support local suppliers, after a tough financial year, could you blame them for putting survival at the top of their list and choosing to import produce which might be cheaper from the EU?

But there is another issue here which the UK Government needs to wake up to and that is the threat of disease entering our shores if checks aren’t in place to form a line of defence.

Read more - UK faces largest ever outbreak of Avian Influenza

Over the last few years, I have been reporting on the progress of African Swine Fever (ASF) – a disease that has a 100% mortality rate in pigs – which has been sweeping through Asia since 2018 and now has a strong foothold in the EU.

It’s a disease which has so far wiped out one quarter of the world’s pig population, distorting global pork supply and has recently been suggested could have set the stage for Covid-19 – with pork shortages in China forcing families to choose alternative meats.

Last year I was told by Andy McGowan of the Scottish Pig Producers that if the disease hit the UK, it will be a matter of months, not years, before the whole of the country is affected – devastating home pig production. If this hasn’t hit home yet, then think about no more bacon sarnies!

Read more - African Swine Fever could soon be knocking on the UK's door

Almost all of the cases of ASF around the world have been transmitted by wild boar. Only last week, an organic free-range pig herd in Germany had to be preventatively culled due to its close proximity to a high-risk zone for ASF, which had been found in wild boar in various areas next to the border with Poland. This conjured horrific memories of foot-and-mouth disease which devastated UK farms 20 years ago and the preventative culls to stop the virus spreading are something farmers will never forget.

ASF does not present a direct threat to human health, but it does severely threaten food supply and food security. We are all living through the devastation of a global pandemic so should be more tuned in to the need for more stringent biosecurity measures to prevent further outbreaks.

With ASF knocking closer on the UK door, the Government must do everything in its power to prioritise reciprocal border controls and stop another disease entering our shores.