Brexit är nu klart, det blev strålande för UK, argument för och emot en Swexit?

these are not new requirements – just newly-applied to Great Britain (UK minus Northern Ireland). Thus, it is not as if UK vendors are having to deal with something totally new. Anyone familiar with shipping products of animal origin from a third country (such as Australia) to the EU should be able to advise. And, I believe, the UK government has an Australian personage on its staff.

The use of the phrase “red tape” somehow trivialises the issue, more so when we get The Times referring to the “fine print” and the “burden of extra paperwork”.

The paperwork, in most respects, is only a part of the regime which includes rules for certification of products, conformity assessment, inspections, sampling and testing of goods.

These complex and rigorous formalities are the new normal and are very far from trivial. Exporters and shippers need to treat them seriously, and accept that compliance is now part of the cost of doing business in Europe. To dismiss them as “paperwork” or “bureaucracy” does not do justice to the scale of the problem confronting business. Nor is there any value in calling for pragmatism. Far from taking back control, we are no longer in control.