LONDON: Britain believes it can resolve the post-Brexit “teething issues” that prevented Scottish fishermen from exporting goods to the European Union because of customs delays, food minister George Eustice said on Thursday.
Some EU importers have rejected truck loads of Scottish fish since Jan. 1 because new requirements for catch certificates, health checks and export declarations meant they had taken too long to arrive, angering fishermen who are facing financial ruin if they cannot trade.
Eustice told parliament his staff had held meetings with Dutch, French and Irish officials to try to “iron out some of these teething problems”.
“They are only teething problems,” he said. “When people get used to using the paperwork goods will flow.”
Eustice said with no grace period to introduce the rules, the industry was having to adapt to them in real time, dealing with such issues as what colour ink can be used to fill in forms.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson…