Disruptions continue in UK-EU trade

British firms are struggling with disruptions in trade between the country and the European Union one month after they launched a new post-Brexit relationship.

Britain left the EU on January 31 of last year and entered into the new relationship with the bloc at the beginning of this year under free trade and other agreements.

Trade between the UK and the EU now requires customs checks which include declaration of content and volumes of cargos. That has boosted labor hours and costs necessary for the procedure.

Some British companies are reviewing their exports to the EU.

A supplier of chemical products in southern Britain has moved its logistics base from the UK to Poland, which is an EU member, to deliver goods to its customers in EU states.

In Britain's fisheries industry, some companies have suspended exports of fresh fish and seafood to the EU as it has become difficult to maintain freshness of the products.

Fishing firms brought a convoy of trucks to central London for a protest in mid-January, demanding the government work to improve the situation.

The government has stressed that confusion in logistics will be resolved over time.

But it could deal a further blow to British firms, which have already been hit by restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus and its variant.

Source: NHK World-Japan