Ships have also been hurt by Britain's separation from the EU.

Galicia: The «Brexit» begins to affect the port of Vigo

SPAIN
Monday, January 18, 2021, 05:40 (GMT + 9)

The following is an excerpt from an article published by La Voz de Galicia:

Almost all the fish from the Gran Sol are reaching the city by road, but the obstacles to transporters push the shipowners to schedule more boat unloadings in O Berbés

It was impossible for a change of these dimensions not to be noticed. Brexit, the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, will culminate at the end of this month and, at this stage of the process, the fishing vessels of the Cooperativa de Armadores de Vigo that fish in Gran Sol are already beginning to notice the effects of the historical divorce. The most immediate consequences are being suffered in the processes of unloading and transporting fish from the main fishing ground in the North Atlantic. Both trucks and ships have seen tax and customs declarations and verification of the origin of the products aggravated.

Transport of fresh fish (Photo: AP / La Voz de Galicia)

Since January 1, the new requirements imply a slowdown of more than 48 hours in the usual work rates at border controls.

In the case of carriers, they must now have a new document to transit through British ports, the so-called 'Kent permit'. The penalty for driving without such registration is 300 pounds. In addition, as a result of the pandemic, drivers must carry a negative PCR to step on British soil. There are already authorized points in the docks of the country, but between requesting the test and receiving the results, workers lose another day.

Sending the fish from Gran Sol by road has been the trend for twenty years, but it has progressively increased. In 2020, a total of 949 landings were recorded from the North Atlantic. Of these, 760 corresponded to truck trips and 189 to ship berths. That is, in 80% of the cases the truck has been chosen as a means of transporting the catches to Galicia. (Source: La Voz de Galicia)

“It has become a very cumbersome process that requires a lot of documentation and paperwork. They are not simple export documents ”, explains Antonio Fernández, vice president of the Business Federation for the Transport of Goods by Road of Galicia (Fetram).

Despite the fact that the tendency is to think that the agglomerations are concentrating on British territory, Fetram emphasizes that, when passing through EU countries, they must also face demanding controls for exporting products caught in Gran Sol.(continued... )

Author: Alejandra Pascual / La Voz de Galicia | Read this interesting full article by clicking on the link here (Ony available in Spanish)

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print