Brexiteers and Remainers......

It’s not in the interest of the EU to make any special concessions to the UK though is it? If you are not in the free trade zone and the rules state you can’t import certain foods if you are not in said trade zone then tough titty. You can’t tell customs officers dealing with thousands and thousands of people and goods everyday to wave through stuff because it came from that country in the first place - it’s not a realistic expectation to expect them to either just believe what someone tells them - “it’s from Italy anyway.” Oh, ok then. Or to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of every food items country of origin.
Just accept if you leave without a free trade deal then you’re going to be disadvantaged and own it.

 

Who said anything about special concessions.
Tinned foods and pre packaged stuff shows country of origin and for example Parmigiano Reggiano to give it its proper name can only come from Italy and specific region at that. Unlike Many English cheeses (New Zealand cheddar anyone?) most Italian and French cheeses are DOP DOC protected and labelled as such so you can tell at a glance the source. Anything produce in the EU is labelled as such. Chocolate represents no health hazard so you hardly need an encyclopaedic knowledge of food. I agree if there is any doubt, incorrect or missing labelling then yep!..bar entry but banning Belgium chocolates when entering Belgium is way for example is OTT. So clearly you agree with trade barriers and protectionism carried to extremes so long as you are on the inside.

 

You can’t implement flexible import barriers based on requiring customs officials discretion- it wouldn’t work it doesn’t work - rules have to be universally applicable otherwise you’re relying on interpretations and opinions - that’s not how borders work.

 

Brexit. Whatever your views on it has been implemented catastrophically by the tories. I’m not sure where we go from here with a timid opposition too scared to tackle it.

 

It's more that Britain can't be arsed to enforce it/hasn't got the resources to do so. Without an agreement in place, both the EU and the UK should technically be banning the imports. Us 'taking back control' is actually us 'taking risks' as we're just presuming that things are still to the same high standard. They probably are, for now, as companies won't have changed things specifically for the UK but as it get advantageous for them to do so, some will start to cut corners to make more money. It's not that the EU is being strict, it's that we're being careless.

 

Only because our government can't be bothered to implement the "oven ready deal" properly - leading to a smuggling free for all...
The EU on the other hand (in order to protect their single market) have. You have to remember that we are now a 3rd country and a consequently treated just like all the rest of them. The leave campaign told us that despite leaving the club we would get all the benefits from it, unfortunately, in order to be the biggest and most successful trading block in the word the EU has to be ruthless. We on the other hand are so desperate for trade, we'll accept any old tat.

 

As a 3rd country we have to accept the rules of the individual countries. For the same reason if you want to go and live in Europe, you can't just go any more you have to get a visa from the country you want to go to, which is only valid in that country.

 

I'm staying out of this. The Titanic sank and people in Africa won't have snow this Christmas time because of me. Sitting back with a Strongbow and some max strong hot sauce blaze crisps.

Some good points though.

 

Absolutely, I think you have explained the situation far better than my poor attempt.

 

We all know you're not really a Tory, Mr Dawson! Remember, there is more joy.. . .. ...

 

Both Countries are using the same EU rules, just one is choosing to be more stringent than the other.
Neither is wrong in what they are doing.

 

Nope, I think you summed it up perfectly.