U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May will put the United Kingdom on course to leave the EU by March 2019, which means the country’s government will invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year.
In her first speech to the ongoing Conservative Party conference since becoming prime minister, May said there would be “no unnecessary delays” in invoking Article 50 but that there were good reasons why she said immediately after the June referendum that she wouldn’t do so before the end of this year – “to have the time to develop our negotiating strategy and avoid setting the clock ticking until our objectives are clear and agreed.”
May said the approach had also meant that some certainty could be given to businesses and investors.
“Consumer confidence has remained steady. Foreign investment in Britain has continued. Employment is at a record high, and wages are on the up,” she said. "There is still some uncertainty, but the sky has not fallen in as some predicted it would – our economy remains strong."
May told the conference that the United Kingdom would seek the best deal as it negotiates a new deal with the EU.
"I want it to involve free trade in goods and services. I want it to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market, and let European businesses do the same here," May said.
Brexit was also a hot topic at this year’s Humber Seafood Summit, organized by the U.K. Seafish Authority and held in Cleethorpes last week, with Seafish CEO Marcus Coleman highlighting some of the most pertinent issues for the U.K. seafood industry, among them: fisheries management; trade tariffs; EU regulations; employment of non-nationals; and industry investment and funding.
During a panel debate on Brexit, Nigel Edwards, technical and CSR director at Icelandic Seachill, one of the country’s largest chilled seafood processors and owner of the Saucy Fish brand, but representing the newly-formed Seafood Industry Alliance for processors and traders, said the industry needed continued access to the skilled workforce that it values, and he pointed out that there is currently a shortage of relevantly skilled workers in the United Kingdom.
Secondly, the country needs to maintain market access and the ability to import where possible at zero or low level tariffs both in the EU and outside the bloc, said Edwards.
With regard to regulations, he said it was vital that consumers continued to be confident in food products and that the government provides a road map to guide the retention and adoption of existing rules as well as a system to create better regulations where needed for the benefit of the United Kingdom’s competitiveness.
“We need to continue the recognition of our factory standards around the world with our trading partners,” Edwards said.
It is also essential that the country maintains its social standing in the marketplace, and continues to lead on combating global issues such as slavery within the supply chain, he said.
Also on the panel, Mike Berthet, marketing development manager at Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), warned that the seafood industry is heading toward a “plethora of delays and paperwork” and stressed the need to put together “a crack team of negotiators” to fight its corner alongside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
“We need to get the right people on the bus to work with Defra and negotiate the best deal. We cannot afford to spend the next 100 years apologizing for a mediocre job,” Berthet said. “But if we do a good job of negotiating our way through this, it will be held up as an example and there will be opportunities.”
