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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Mike is proud to be an active voice for the UK perishable logistics sector. His most recent opinion piece has been well received by the media. Thank you to FPJ (Fresh Produce Journal) for publishing this important commentary, and to FPC FreshTalk Daily for also reporting on these concerns, as well as Dairy Industries International.

PML Seafrigo CEO Mike Parr 

The UK logistics sector has been hit hard by the added cost, complexity and uncertainty of trading since Brexit. And the government continues to make life difficult. The Safety & Security (S&S) declarations due to come into force at the end of January will affect hauliers handling imported goods if they are not suitably prepared.

To be fully compliant, regulated products coming into the UK must have the correct Phytosanitary or Health (Sanitary) documentation raised by the exporter, and the documentation needs to be sent to the importer or their intermediary prior to the shipment’s arrival in the UK.

Such goods must be pre-notified on the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) and documents need to be sent to the importer or their intermediary prior to the shipment’s arrival in Britain. If selected for a physical examination, then goods need to be presented to an Inland Border Facility or a Control Point, as selected in IPAFFS.

As has been widely debated, this is likely to cause severe disruption to the importer, the retailer and ultimately the consumer. PML Seafrigo has raised the question with customs of why the S&S declarations cannot be consolidated within the pre-lodged import declarations, which hauliers are already expected to submit. To date, we’ve received no response to this logical suggestion.

Looking at the S&S declarations from the exporter’s perspective, we are aware that phytosanitary certificates (PCs) can take anything up to five days to raise, dependent on the availability of an Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) official.

For certain crops, such as berries, this five-day window is inconsistent with the exporter being able to assess whether or not the product is ready for export on that specific date. We know that countries such as The Netherlands have embraced technology to overcome these issues, allowing the producer to send a video to the Defra equivalent. If there is no response within two hours, this is interpreted as immediate approval. Why can the same approach not be adopted in the UK?

The voluntary Plant Health Exports Audited Trader Scheme (PHEATS) enabled authorised persons to perform certain phytosanitary actions and carry out their own inspections, thereby raising PCs in house post-inspection by staff who have been trained by Defra.

The scheme was launched as a pilot, but at this juncture there is no firm indication of it being rolled out to exporters or their agents. In addition, the cost of entry to the scheme in terms of both hours and fees is cost-prohibitive to some growers, impacting on their ability to profit from the valuable export market.

Add to the above the regular government U-turns, which I’ve vocalised on numerous occasions, and you have the perfect storm. Not only are these frustrating, they also represent a considerable waste of time as forwarders and businesses dedicate costly resource to ensuring they remain up to date with the latest import and export protocols.

I commented last year that hauliers are already showing a resistance to transporting goods to the UK due to the increased checks and associated disruption. The net result will be less fruit and vegetables on the shelves and higher prices, caused by less hauliers moving goods, the reduced shelf life and even destruction of consignments following delays, and more producers simply being unable to deal with the rising costs associated with exporting to the UK.

Without wishing to sound like a broken record, this is once again an example of the government failing to pay heed to those working at the coalface. 

2025 is destined to be a very challenging year for all those involved in the perishable food supply chain.

– Mike Parr, PML Seafrigo CEO

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