A British mussel fisherman in Flookburgh, Morecambe Bay (archive image)
Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne / REUTERS
Great Britain left the European Union almost two months ago.
Now the British government is complaining about the first effects of Brexit - in the dispute over the EU's import ban on certain seafood.
"There is no scientific or technical justification for the European Commission to ban the import of live mussels from class B waters," said a spokeswoman for the British Environment Ministry when asked by the dpa news agency.
Accordingly, the house sees the domestic economy in danger.
According to an EU classification, waters of class A are the cleanest, followed by category B. According to the regulations, molluscs from waters of category A can be imported into the EU without being cleaned beforehand.
Most British waters, however, are class B.
"That damages markets on both sides"
The EU prohibits the importation of certain shellfish - such as Category B - from the United Kingdom, as well as from other third countries.
The reason is that after leaving the EU, food standards and monitoring could differ and this seafood is particularly sensitive to health.
"This is already affecting companies and damaging markets on both sides of the channel," said the British Ministry spokeswoman.
They urged a solution to this problem and asked the Commission to meet.
At the same time, they are ready to provide further evidence that would underpin the quality of British products.
"However, the existing high standards and the history of our trade must be taken into account," the ministry said.
Long checks and formalities at the borders
According to a report by the Telegraph, possible restrictions on the import of EU products to Great Britain are already being discussed in British government circles as a reaction.
However, there was initially no confirmation of this.
The ministry instead referred to rules for importing EU products into the UK, which could expire later this year.
This will be "checked" continuously.
At the beginning of the year, Great Britain finally left the EU's internal market.
It is true that both sides have agreed in principle on duty-free trade in their laboriously agreed pact.
Nevertheless, a number of new controls and formalities are necessary at the borders, which is a massive burden for many traders.
Icon: The mirror
mrc / dpa
