A SENIOR Liberal Democrat has called for the resignation of the UK Government Environment secretary over claims about the EU's ban on seafood exports.
Alistair Carmichael said George Eustice was unfit to resolve the problems being faced by fishermen up and down the country since the end of the transition period, and must now step aside.
It comes after reports that the UK Government had changed its stance on the actions of the EU in blocking import of unpurified mussels, clams, scallops and cockles, known collecively as bivalbe molluscs.
The bloc has effectively banned the trade of shellfish from the UK to the EU, a decision which was described by Mr Eustice yesterday as having no "scientific or technical justification".
However an email sent to members by the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) yesterday appeared to suggest Mr Eustice's Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had changed its stance on the decision and believed the EU's ban was "correct".
The email read "We have now received another update from DEFRA regarding the export of live-bivalve molluscs.
"All along they have told us that they believe the trade in class B animals is legal and that the regulation supports this. They have now changed this position.
"They now say that they believe on balance that the EU view, that the trade is not legal, is in fact correct. This is in complete contrast to everything they have told us so far".
DEFRA said it has not changed its stance, and a spokesman said: "We continue to believe that our interpretation of the law and the EU’s original interpretation is correct and that the trade should be able to continue for all relevant molluscs from April. And there is no reason for a gap at all for molluscs from aquaculture."
After the original SAGB email was revealed, the organisation said that it had spoken to a "non-legal" person at DEFRA initially, but have now clarified the department's position. Another email sent to members this afternoon stated that DEFRA "still believe that thwy have a good legal case and that the EU position is not correct."
The Association also apologised and said the situation was "fast moving and yesterday's email was based on a conversation with a non-legal person from DEFRA."
Liberal Dermocrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, Alistair Carmichael, said Mr Eustice must now resign.
He said: "Yesterday George Eustice made a statement in Parliament blaming everyone else – today he has thrown in the towel.
"The seafood industries can no longer have confidence in anything he says. "Problems that he and the Prime Minister created were initially dismissed as teething problems but now are shown to be part of what the Government has negotiated for us. Government failures have left shellfish exporters picking up a hefty tab.
"It seems that George Eustice has no solutions left to offer. He should step aside and let somebody else fix this mess.
"It is difficult to see how he can remain in his job after this fiasco.”
Fishermen across the UK have told of how they have experienced long waiting times, paperwork problems and red tape when trying to export their prooduce to the EU since the transition period ended on January 1.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Michael Gove have both dismissed the issues as "teething problems", however a compensation fund has been set up to repay firms which have lost business due to the problems with exports.
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