Discover how Brexit affects the Pet Food Industry. Don´t you know yet?

Nobody imagined, when deciding the future of the United Kingdom, that Brexit would affect its 54 million pets. On a much lower level, no one saw that behind these pets would be producers of food, drugs and anyone involved in the chain of production and distribution of food and supplies for pets.

In this article we tell you what are the main problems in the pet food market against Brexit.

The UK pet food industry affects not only that nation, but also the entire European market, given that the EU has come to use up to 80% of raw materials from there. However, it should be noted that since the announcement of Brexit, the level of export of pet food in the United Kingdom has fallen by 1%, and that the official exit from the EU has not yet been launched.

The United Kingdom is among the 15 countries that most export their pet food production worldwide; it is, precisely, in the number 10 position. The decisions made from now on will lead to an even better position, or it will begin to see more exponential losses for not standing out for its bureaucratic facilities, competitive prices or quality, compared to its major competitors, such as China.

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The UK's animal health and food safety standards are among the highest in the world. This is due, among other things, to the regulation that falls on raw materials, manufacturing processes and quality. In addition, related practices, such as official veterinary centers, hygiene, and disease outbreak prevention are regulated under strict guidelines and guidelines.

For the PFMA (Association of Pet Food Manufacturers of the United Kingdom), the five main points to deal with and solve against Brexit are:

1. Animal safety, health and welfare standards.
2. Sustainability of supplies.
3. Legislation
4. Future trade
5. Workforce

Animal welfare
The pet food sector is in a unique position when it comes to animal welfare. In the UK, it's not just trying to preserve and improve the well-being and health of pets, but livestock as well: by providing the best nutrition possible for livestock, they are provided with a better life. In this way, by closing the circle that is formed, pets are provided with better quality food, and that is why maintaining the high levels of welfare of farm animals after Brexit is essential.

Sustainability
UK pet food producers are proud to contribute to sustainability in the agri-food sector. Manufacturing companies use large amounts of animal surplus from human production and consumption to manufacture pet food. For example, in 2016, they used around 600,000 tons. If not reused, all that quantity of raw material would have to be discarded; avoiding it gave the pet food industry remarkable value. Also, for this chain to continue, strong UK agricultural policies will now be needed, as well as preserving high standards of well-being and safety. Guaranteeing the quality levels of your pet food will only provide them with a place of respect and reference when it comes to marketing worldwide and, mainly, in the market outside the EU.

No duty barriers
An important factor in the discussion of future trade agreements with the EU is the impact of the new tariffs. In general, the impact for this sector is considered to be more critical than for others, since it would require, among other things, export health certificates, proofs of the origin of the raw material used in the manufacture of pet food and the Veterinary inspection at the borders.

Importation of products
Experts from the UK pet food market claim that, should the new regulations allow any pet food to enter regardless of its components and hence its quality, then the domestic market would have no way to compete , since local agricultural products are of better quality and, consequently, more expensive. Likewise, UK pet food consumers are used to high quality products; Even so, opening the doors to producers in the rest of Europe would have a negative impact on local producers, since competition would increase significantly, and perhaps many pet owners will start to opt for cheaper products, even if that implies a lower quality of food and nutrients.

The Veterinary Workforce
Currently, the associations related to the animal sector are in the bid for the Veterinary career to be considered as an occupation with fewer and fewer new professionals, which is known as a scarcity occupation. It is estimated that 85% of veterinarians working in slaughterhouses and up to 30% of all veterinarians in the United Kingdom come from countries of the European Union. If their presence and work were affected or interrupted by Brexit, consequently both the health of pets and the quality of the food they consume would be affected.

What UK voices say about the pet food industry
Peter Pritchard, the CEO of Pets at Home, the UK's largest pet supplies retailer, says the key to managing the market after Brexit will be deciding how they want to position themselves in the international market.

If you choose to position yourself with quality food for animal welfare, and even improve the product for export, the result for the domestic market would be highly positive.

Conversely, if the government debate leans in favor of lower quality raw materials, such as chlorinated chicken (currently the use of which is prohibited within the EU), the sector would be highly affected and in disadvantageous conditions to compete with the world market.

Until now, UK producers have been exporting up to 80% of their production to other EU countries. If a trade agreement is not reached to maintain these export levels, it will be impossible for the internal market to benefit, since replacing that amount with other countries outside the EU would have a much higher cost of transport and bureaucracy. If an agreement is reached to maintain export levels to countries belonging to the EU, and if new international markets are added to this, the pet food sector will benefit substantially.

On the other hand, in an open letter to the Government, the Pet Food Manufacturers Association calls for them to be provided with pet food manufacturing businesses and deals in the UK. The president of the Association affirms that the producers are from large multinationals to small companies that operate only at the national level. 90% of these producers are SMEs, of which the majority trade outside the UK but within the EU. All of them provide the best quality food and wish to continue doing so, but their possibility of activity will depend on future trade agreements with the EU.

So what can we conclude from the pet food industry?
This is a summary of the current, and still inconclusive, situation of the pet food industry in the UK and the EU. In any case, there is no doubt that the movements and measures taken in the new United Kingdom will impact worldwide, given its high level of exports and power within the industry. As time goes by, we will inform and update the measures and decisions taken for the well-being and growth of the industry.

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Source: All Extruded, The Pet Food Magazine