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Produce traders decry lack of consultation time for fee increases

[ March 10, 2025   //   ]

A lack of consultation time is forcing fresh produce traders to comment on vital matters without access to crucial information, says Seafrigo chief executive, Mike Parr.

It follows a meeting on 6March set up by the Fresh Produce Consortium for industry members to discuss with Defra their thoughts on the proposed changes to plant health fees.

Defra argues that it has been five years since the fees were last ‘refreshed’, in 2019, and this would enable full cost recovery ie 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% which, says Parr, would be a significant hike in costs at a time when the industry is already reeling from 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 asked to see evidence of improved Defra efficiency to make the increase more palatable, the government said that limited data was currently available but information would be released in the near future. However, with the consultation period ending in two weeks’ time, it is impossible to make an informed response ahead of the consultation deadline, Parr argued. He said: “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?”

The meeting also included an update on the physical and ID inspection fees for European and Rest of World imported goods and how these would be handled. The meeting, which was attended mainly by importers, unanimously voted 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.

However, says Parr, PML Seafrigo invested in this training as far back as 2023, and the company has yet to be allowed to provide the service associated with Approved Operator status.

He said: “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 meeting voted a resounding yes to the AOS, the final decision will be with the ministerial team. Parr commented: “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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