So… Brexit happened, having woken on Friday morning to this historic result there seemed to be almost a stunned majority who had didn’t quite believe that their vote would actually cause the ‘out’ result and an indignant minority convinced the sky is about to fall down because of it.
As the dust has begun to settle, and the end of the world hysteria begins to fade, we’re beginning to hear more practical and pragmatic questions about what will happen now?
“VOTE OUT = NO RED TAPE! SAVE ££££’s”
During the months of campaigning the out campaign has made a lot of noise about the impact and cost of EU regulations on British businesses. There is no doubt that implementing processes and procedures to conform with numerous regulations, directives and laws have a significant cost; however, it is also without doubt that some of these provide significant value as well and we would be wise to retain them.
In the labelling industry specifically, the enforcement of the EU Food Information Regulations is particularly topical. The rules surrounding the identification of ingredients, allergens, etc. came into force in 2014 and can make the labelling of food products a time consuming job for food producers. This can prove especially difficult for small scale “cottage industry” style companies, however few would argue the benefits to consumers of clearly identifying allergens on the packaging, the personal impact of an allergic reaction can be extremely damaging, and in severe cases life threatening!
“Getting Rid of Allergen Labelling Would be Nuts!”
In practice, the EU Food Labelling Regulations are useful for consumers and should be kept on those grounds alone, also two years after enforcement of the regulations many companies are already geared up for and complying with the rules and are unlikely to roll back their processes to a non-compliant state.
Whilst we have voted out of the EU, we will still expect our politicians to negotiate good trade deals with the EU community as many UK businesses will intend to continue to trade with the rest of its member states. In order to do so we will have to continue to comply with the regulations to allow our products to be sold within the EU.
With Brexit likely to rumble on for at least two years whilst negotiations are ongoing until the UK actually leaves, in the short term nothing is going to change. However, in the longer term it will be interesting to see how future changes to regulations will affect British businesses.
Is this the end?
So… Is this the end, well of this post yes! Of the EU Food Labelling Regulations? Most Probably not!
My personal opinion is that we live in a world that will continue to increase regulations, they may not be under the EU banner, they will instead come from the Food Standards Agency or similar UK government agencies and expecting anything else is simply wishful thinking! Businesses large and small should not expect anything different, what we can hope for though is that a good dollop of common sense will accompany any new rules and regulations.
Article contributed by Trevor Voisey, Owner of TPSlabels.co.uk
