Mike Parr:

This week’s [6 May] parliamentary session with Baroness Hayman, regarding the industry’s questions in relation to the proposed introduction of plant health border checks for fresh produce and plants was incredibly disappointing. It represented yet another painful example of the government’s failure to understand the critical issues that we face – and seemed to turn a blind eye to the imperative for urgent responses to questions that have been raised.

Throughout the meeting it was evident that despite the upcoming 1 July deadline for the commencement of the required checks, those involved in the logistics concerning the transfer of imported fresh produce have not been provided with any further reassurances or clarity ref key concerns that have been raised on numerous occasions, over the last five months.

Amongst the most important topics which we’d hoped would be discussed were the lack of preparedness at Sevington to deal with the checks; the effective creation of a monopoly at the government border control point which operates on a 24-hour working day, whilst only offering checks at remote HMRC / Defra approved border control posts between 9-5 (which is inconsistent with the needs associated with the time sensitive transfer of food and plant produce); the failure to provide a definitive list of fruits and vegetables deemed to be within the Medium Risk A&B categories which will be subject to the checks; the fact that Common User Charge fees for 2025/26 remain unconfirmed and the ongoing “evaluation” of the Approved Operator Status scheme which companies such as PML Seafrigo invested in as far back as 2023.

Despite the industry, under the leadership of FPC’s Chief Executive Nigel Jenney, regularly advising the government regarding the best way forward and providing viable solutions, here we are less than eight weeks away, still in precisely the same position we were in at the end of December, when the original 1^st January deadline was extended. The repeated mentions that the industry is not ready implies that we are not taking on board the recommendations. Far from it, as a sector we’ve been incredibly agile in our feedback on the proposed checks, repeatedly putting forward well thought out options to ensure a smooth and seamless transition. 

It is the government that is not ready. It is the government that will not listen to the people working at the coalface. It will be the government that is the direct cause of the likely catastrophic hike in food prices based on the lack of availability of essential fresh produce goods.

We need customers to join us in making our voice heard. We need the public to rally against the government’s inertia and constant stalling tactics, especially with regard to the rollout of the Approved Operator Status scheme.

Allow the industry to help fix the problems. Time is running out. We need action NOW.

– Mike Parr, PML Seafrigo CEO

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Mike Parr:

Last Thursday [6 March 2025] I attended a meeting set up by the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) for industry members to discuss with Defra their thoughts on the proposed changes to plant health fees. Specifically, the meeting was designed to enable members to put forward their concerns regarding the impact these changes are likely to have on their business.

Defra’s argument for the increase in fees is that it has been five years since the fees were last refreshed (2019) and this would enable full cost recovery (I.E. the fee increase would cover all the costs associated with the rollout of the scheme including a portion of overhead costs).

The suggested increase is 27 per cent, which represents a significant hike in costs at a time when the industry is already reeling from so many other post-Brexit changes – not least the Common User Charge and monies spent to adapt systems and train staff to manage the required new protocols.

Whilst delegates requested evidence of Defra’s efficiencies to make this increase more palatable, the government line at this point was that limited data is currently available, but information would be released in the near-future.

That would be fine were it not for the fact that the consultation period ends in two weeks’ time, so how is it possible to make an informed response if the data is not forthcoming ahead of the consultation deadline?

This means effectively we are commenting on a matter blind, without the critical facts to hand. Is this really the government’s idea of “working with industry stakeholders”?

In the context of this discussion, a primary point for debate was also an update on the physical and ID inspection fees for European and Rest of World imported goods and how these would be handled.

In a room that was largely filled with importers, it was gratifying to see a unanimous vote in favour of the Approved Operator Scheme (AOS) as the most viable solution to the new required border control checks, which allows eligible trained traders to carry out their own physical and identify checks. Given the fact the PML Seafrigo invested in this training as far back as 2023, this would be welcome news.

The pilot for this initiative was due to run from June to December 2024, with post pilot evaluation scheduled between December 2024 and February 2025. Yet, during this time, PML Seafrigo has been unable to provide the service associated with Approved Operator status.

Early adopters of the scheme such as PML Seafrigo will have waited for over two years post training for the scheme to be rolled out which seems an excessively long period, given the evaluation of the pilot is only allocated three months?

Whilst the room voted a resounding yes to the AOS, the final decision will of course be with the ministerial team. Let’s just hope that this time around they do actually listen to those working at the coalface and that this is not yet another example of the government simply paying lip service.

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