Butchering carcasses overseas tackles UK shortage

Butchering carcasses overseas has been picking up among UK meat processors, as reports today (3) state that carcasses are being sent outside to EU countries to be butchered and brought back for domestic consumption as a way-out to combat staff shortage in the country.

As per chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association Nick Allen, beef producers are exporting carcasses to Ireland for butchering and packing, before the products are brought back to Great Britain to be sold in supermarkets.

On similar lines, pork processors are soon expected to start sending pigs to the Netherlands to be butchered in a similar process, he said, as they continue to grapple to deal with staffing levels at least 15 per cent below the norm. Millions of pigs were expected to be processed this way, Financial Times quoted Allen in a report.

More than 10,000 healthy pigs, mostly piglets, had been culled so far after a backlog built up on farms, said Zoe Davies, chief executive of the National Pig Association, while at least 1,800 more would be culled and rendered in the coming weeks.

It was reported last month that due to butcher shortage, slaughter of healthy pigs had begun on British farms, with about 600 pigs reported to have been culled to make space and ensure the continued welfare of the livestock.

Although the government has agreed to issue 800 temporary visas for skilled overseas butchers, culling reportedly continues as due to recruitment and visa approval process, butchers are not expected to arrive until late November or December.

Farmers and processors say the extra overseas butchers, allocated to four big meat processors, will help alleviate the immediate problem but will not provide a long-term solution.

Noteworthy here is before the UK left the EU, many butchers used to enter from continental Europe under free movement rules.

Exporting carcass for butchering might seems to be viable solution now but such a move adds additional £1,500 for each lorry-load of carcasses, including fees for transport, as well as customs requirements introduced since Brexit, such as export health certificate for each consignment, The Guardian claimed in a report.