Fishermen in Pembrokeshire are facing a £199 fee to export their products to the EU. The fee is being introduced by the County Council’s Cabinet to allow the Port Health Team to issue ECHs. The certificates are mandatory for all companies in the UK exporting or moving live animal products to the EU post-Brexit.
A spokesperson from Pembrokeshire Cabinet said: “As a result of Brexit, fishery products exported to the European Union from the United Kingdom now require an EHC, as laid out in the Official Control Regulations 2017/625.”
UK fisheries have been one of the most contentious topics during the Brexit negotiations.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised UK fishermen they would be fully protected in the event of any post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, which was signed on December 30, 2020.
The trade deal stated there would be a five-year transition period during which little would change that would see EU boats continue to gain access to UK waters until 2026.
Shortly after the trade deal with the EU was signed, then-Prime Minister Mr Johnson admitted concessions were made to Brussels but insisted the agreement was a success.
He said: “The EU began with I think wanting a transition period of 14 years, we wanted three years, we’ve ended up at five years.
“That was a reasonable transition period and I can assure great fish fanatics in this country that we will as a result of this deal be able to catch and eat quite prodigious quantities of extra fish.
“For the first time since 1973 we will be an independent coastal state with full control of our waters with the UK’s share of fish in our waters rising substantially from roughly half today to closer to two thirds in five-and-a-half years’ time.
“After that, there is no theoretical limits beyond those placed by science or conservation on the quantity of our own fish that we can fish in our waters.”