One of Britain's largest mussel exporters, Offshore Shellfish, has suffered a £150,000 loss after three of its shipments were rejected by French customs in recent weeks. The family-run business, based in Devon, has been exporting blue mussels to the EU since Brexit, but the past month has seen three out of four lorries prevented from entering the bloc at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Commercial director Sarah Holmyard described the rejections as “subjective and inconsistent”, noting that the company had sent hundreds of loads since Brexit without a single rejection. The mussels, grown on ropes in Lyme Bay off the south Devon coast, are mostly exported for processing in the Netherlands, with many ending up in Belgian restaurants as moules-frites.
All three rejected loads had to be destroyed at the company's cost. Holmyard said the shipments did not differ from previous deliveries, leaving the company confused and unable to plan. “It’s just a lottery at the moment whether they get through or not,” she said.
Since Brexit, animal and plant product deliveries require health checks and paperwork under sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls. Live bivalve molluscs face especially stringent EU rules, only importable without treatment if from highest-quality waters. Offshore Shellfish's farms are in class A waters for most of the year.
The rejections come after the UK government's May announcement of a “reset” deal with the EU, designed to remove SPS checks. Negotiations are expected to begin this month, with implementation targeted for 2027. Holmyard suggested the rejections may be political, as they began after the reset announcement. A government spokesperson said they are focused on negotiating an SPS deal to cut costs and reduce red tape.
