Trade Talk
The government is probably congratulating itself on its swift handling of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) crisis, but the public will be unaware of the enormous disruption to trade that escaped the media's gaze.
During the time it took to set up the certification scheme for trade between the UK and the rest of the EU, confusion reigned. Now industry is trying to negotiate with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to certify exports to third countries.
It is questionable whether every restriction imposed by the European Commission was essential. Is certification really necessary for exporting products made from milk pasteurised in dairies under official control when the process kills FMD anyway?
The certification policy for dairy is not a good use of public money. It is disproportionate, takes no account of risk, and is driven more by emotion than necessity. It is tempting to read protectionism into the decision in relation to dairy exports. After all, if there were a FMD outbreak in France, you can bet they'd press to have dairy products excluded.
These events again exposed the gulf between the establishment and business, particularly regarding speed of response. Obviously, time is needed to think things through, but if it took traders that long, they'd be out of business. We talk about excessive red tape, but pruning would be as effective as eliminating it.
It should not be forgotten how the disease arrived initially. In DEFRA's reception areas there are charts summarising its priorities. One of these, 'putting in place systems to reduce risk of animal disease', is particularly ironic, given that a government lab was the source of the outbreak. It leads to the obvious question: why is a laboratory handling dangerous animal diseases situated in farmland? After all, no one would dream of putting Porton Down in the middle of London!
I cannot complain about the help and support provided by DEFRA officials at all levels, but, hamstrung by the ponderous and pedantic bureaucracy under which they, and we, must labour, they are kept from applying the common sense necessary for trade to safely proceed unhindered.
Clare Cheney is director general at the Provision Trade Federation
