By Harry Holmes2020-12-15T10:17:00+00:00
Fishing remains one of the outstanding issues in the UK-EU negotiations
Food businesses are increasingly concerned over threats from French fishermen that goods will be blockaded from entering Europe if a no-deal Brexit excludes their boats from operating in UK waters.
Dimitri Rogoff, president of Normandy’s regional fisheries committee, told French radio on Monday his members would stop ferries carrying British goods entering French ports if they are prohibited from entering UK waters next year. Rogoff added he would expect Dutch and Belgian fishermen to do the same.
The threat has exacerbated existing concerns among some British businesses who fear French fishermen may take actions into their own hands. Richard Hampton, MD of Omsco dairy co-op, said the risk of a blockade was “very much underestimated”, with the business already planning to halt exports to Europe from Boxing Day, for at least the first few weeks of the year.