his industry was the first to hit a brexit bump. injanuary, he lost £90,000 worth of shellfish after it got delayed in france at the uk s new border with the eu. i m angry. my blood is boiling. there s boats tied up, there s families fishing boats tied up. we can t get our product to the eu market because of red tape, extra paperwork. it s an absolute disgrace what we ve had to go through. within days of leaving the single market, fishermen were protesting. the government quickly offered compensation, but two months later, jamie is still waiting. not had any yet. it s now the middle of march, and i ve not had a penny from the uk government, nothing. jamie employs 22 people. he s already worried he might have to lay some of them off.
it s not been a disaster, which is what some people were predicting. but the reality is that it s really difficult to say with clarity at the moment, only six months in, in the middle of a global pandemic, what has been caused by brexit. what s happening now, although it might be very bad in many sectors, i don t think that s necessarily a sign of things to come. if anything, this might be the point where we say this is the worst and things will get better from here. it s summer, six months since the uk fundamentally changed the way it trades with europe. 0ur businesses had to adapt to survive. jamie s 40% down on his pre brexit sales of shellfish. but new orders are still coming in. it s either going to be manchester or heathrow. ..on tuesday night as well
but the reality is that it s really difficult to say with clarity at the moment, only six months in, in the middle of a global pandemic, what has been caused by brexit. what s happening now, although it might be very bad in many sectors, i don t think that s necessarily a sign of things to come. if anything, this might be the point where we say this is the worst and things will get better from here. it s summer, six months since the uk fundamentally changed the way it trades with europe. 0ur businesses had to adapt to survive. jamie s 40% down on his pre brexit sales of shellfish. but new orders are still coming in. it s either going to be manchester or heathrow.
in france at the uk s new border with the eu. i m angry. my blood is boiling. there s boats tied up, there s families fishing boats tied up. we can t get our product to the eu market because of red tape, extra paperwork. it s an absolute disgrace what we ve had to go through. within days of leaving the single market, fishermen were protesting. the government quickly offered compensation, but two months later, jamie is still waiting. not had any yet. it s now the middle of march, and i ve not had a penny from the uk government, nothing. jamie employs 22 people. he s already worried he might have to lay some of them off.
BBC News
Brexit: Exporting my fish to China is easier than to France
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A Scottish fisherman says it s cheaper and quicker to export his shellfish to Asia than it is to France under post-Brexit rules.
Because the UK is out of the single market, British fish exports to Europe are now subject to new customs and veterinary checks.
Jamie McMillan says this means three hours of paperwork every morning to get his shellfish to the EU. He told BBC Panorama he had turned to Asian markets to keep his business afloat and save his employees jobs.
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