Editor: Proof that George Eustice knew about the ban and has been lying…
UPDATE: George Eustice was being deceptive on TV. I have read the Fisheries section of the TCA and undepurated shellfish export isn’t mentioned. This omission means the UK would abide by current EU regulations [for Third Countries] if it isn’t in Exit Legislation…
Eustice claims the EU “said” there wouldn’t be an issue with exports like it was an agreement they had whilst chatting over a pint. And he said they said there are Export Health Certificates (EHC) which would cover unpurified bivalves…
He is either lying or ignorant. The only EHC which covers bivalves specifies they need to be purified or fit for human consumption. There’s no ambiguity on this certificate and no Health Officer would sign an EHC to allow export of my oysters which have not been purified and are therefore not legally safe to eat yet.
Eustice is being absurd suggesting there was a ‘one size fits all solution’ which Europe ‘said’ was fine
This issue is not about public health. It is about our industry warning that there would be huge problems if Government didn’t acknowledge and fix them. Apparent Gentleman’s Agreements isn’t governance. There needed to be adequate bio security measures agreed on paper.
The TCA didn’t cover this issue so, quite simply, it fell into Third Country rules even though Eustice was warned and now he is blaming others for his apathy and ignorance.
Originally tweeted by Tom Haward (@HawardTom) on 23/02/2021.
The phrase, ‘EU shellfish ban,’ keeps being used by news outlets and it’s important to understand how this language is misleading and how Government is deliberately using misinformation to hide from its own failures…
As a producer of live animals (oysters) who sells them on for human consumption, there are, quite rightly, rigorous standards we must meet to ensure what we sell is safe for people to eat. One of the most important factors in this process is the issue of water quality. If water quality is really poor (high amounts of sewage or rubbish dumped), animals like oysters will absorb the dangerous bacteria and make them unsafe to harvest.
There are 3 grades of water quality for shellfish production: grades, A, B & C. These grades were determined when we were part of the EU. Simply, grade A waters are excellent and you don’t have to purify shellfish from these waters (some of our waters where we grow our oysters are A).
Grade B water means shellfish has to be purified before it can be sold for human consumption; most waters in the UK are B. The purpose of the grades is to ensure we use due diligence in our treatment of shellfish. It’s not a perfect system but it works…
As part of a large multi-country community we were effectively able to sell grade B shellfish unpurified to our neighbours where they would perform the process of purification before selling it on. Ideal if you harvested shellfish but didn’t have a purification centre…
At least 2 years ago I noticed (along with others in industry) that if we were no longer part of the EU then as a 3rd country our food standards would no longer align, legally, and we wouldn’t be able to export grade B, unpurified shellfish…
This was raised with government figures as a major concern. It was obviously ignored. We (the UK) helped establish these EU regulations to have a consistent approach for easy, free flowing trade of shellfish. I said a no deal or equivalent would result in this catastrophe if it wasn’t looked at.
George Eustice is lying when he says it was a surprise and when it is being peddled as an ‘overnight ban’. When he was fisheries minister he was aware of these worries. If I saw this coming then Johnson, et al should have…
The UK helped write the regulations government are now claiming they have been side swiped by. We are in this mess because those elected to serve us were too lazy and arrogant to read the small print because they wanted adulation without the work.
Originally tweeted by Tom Haward (@HawardTom) on 21/02/2021.
You can find out more about Tom and his business watching this Byline TV film:
If you live in a fishing community, please write to your MP to make it clear that you know that this ‘ban’ is a fig leaf for the government’s dishonesty. Editor
