The Welsh government has funded a tech company’s solution to physical veterinarian checks in order to reduce costs for farmers.
Blockchain tech firm Ubloquity secured £50,000 in funding from the Welsh government’s Technology Connected scheme to help develop an app that promises to save lamb exporters time and money.
The system, currently being trialled by organic lamb producer Rhug Estate, replaces manual in-person vet checks with remote digital checks – making the process of getting an authenticated export health certificate simpler and cheaper.
The North Wales supplier exports premium Welsh lamb to hospitality markets across Europe. However, its exports have reduced by 50% since Brexit due to increased red tape, including custom regulations, veterinary checks and certification.
While the cost reductions will vary depending on the scale of each company’s exports operations, Rhug Estate is looking at savings of up to £1300 per consignment on veterinary checks and paperwork alone.
“Post-Brexit, red meat exporters face additional regulatory checks and administrative burdens on goods going to the EU, making it more difficult and expensive for customers and restaurants on the continent to source premium goods such as Welsh lamb,” said Ubloquity CEO Rob Chester.
“Our app will remove the requirement to deploy expensive and highly qualified vets to conduct manual checks and sign paperwork – significantly lowering the cost of trade to the exporter and freeing up vets to conduct more highly skilled and necessary work.”
Ubloquity is part of a larger consortium made up of tech developers, agrifood suppliers and veterinarians working to find solutions to improve supply chain efficiency post-Brexit.
The consortium was formed in response to the government’s new Border Target Operating Model, which will see full border controls implemented on goods imported from the EU as well as the rest of the world, with the potential to cause delays and increase costs for traders.
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