British slaughterhouses have begun to temporarily transfer some of their work to Ireland and possibly the Netherlands. Due to a major shortage of personnel, they have to transfer pig carcasses to the EU countries for cutting and further processing.
Outsourcing to Ireland has already started, and a decision on the Netherlands is expected soon, a British official said. The British will then have to re-import the meat. That alleviates the problem, but it is no longer 'British pork' on British store shelves.
Due to the corona crisis, Brexit, export problems and hardly any export to China, the United Kingdom has been struggling with a pig surplus for some time. According to the pig industry, pig farmers have already had tens of thousands of healthy pigs slaughtered due to a lack of space in the stables and a lack of processing capacity in the slaughterhouses. There are 10,000 to 12,000 open vacancies.
The intervention also has financial implications. To pay for the additional transport costs and customs formalities, the producers have to pay 1,500 pounds per truck.
To remedy the acute staff shortage, the UK government recently expanded the visa regime for seasonal workers. The slaughterhouses are allowed to recruit 800 foreign workers. Due to Brexit, workers from other EU countries lost their UK work permits and had to leave the country.
The sector also calls this a drop in the ocean. "It takes 18 months or more to train these people," said Nick Allen of the British Meat Processors Association.