Red meat exports: potential administrative costs of trade under WTO rules

Appendix 2: Interview Questions

International Competitors Questions

Product details

What notice do you get for your order?

What does a typical delivery shipment contain, e.g. a container load of half carcasses, or a container load of boxed primals, or pallets of steaks and other cuts, pallets or retail ready packed product?

What is the typical net weight of a shipment?

How many shipments to you undertake per year?

Is there any seasonal impact

What packaging is used?

What storage conditions are necessary during transport?

Customer details

How would you classify your customer, e.g. agent, supermarket, meat wholesaler, other?

Is the product further processed in your target market, or is it customer ready?

Admin

What approvals/standards are necessary in order to allow you to export into the EU and how are they audited/inspected?

What are the pre-booking procedures that need to be followed?

If there is an agreed volume for quota-free exports, how is the quota allocated to you in your country?

What documentation do you need to provide with the load?

What customs inspections are undertaken before a load leaves your country, if any?

What customs inspections are undertaken at the destination country?

How straightforward is the inspection process, e.g. what is the rate of failure, how long does it take, what happens if part of a load is rejected, what are the potential reasons for rejection?

What, if any freight insurance, do you purchase?

Transport

How would you describe the journey of the order and the necessary infrastructure, e.g. lorry to departure port, storage at departure port, ship, storage at destination port, lorry to customer?

How do you manage the logistics?

Other

What are the two or three issues which cause most problems?

How do you reduce the rate of reoccurrence?

What barriers prevent you from doing more trade?

Do you pay any import tariffs?

If you don’t, but had to, what impact would this have on trade?

What additional costs have to be added to products that are exported?

How competitive is the market, e.g. would you still be competitive if you had to add 5% to your costs?

What, if any, infrastructure do you have in your target market, e.g. employ sales people, rent/own cold store, use an agent who looks after logistics in target country?

Processor Interview Questions

1. How much of your business is exported?

2. Which markets do you export to?

3. What products/cuts do you export?

4. How do you transport your products to market?

5. Are you aware of the impact leaving the EU might have on the Scottish red meat industry?

6. How will Brexit impact your business?

7. Are you putting any contingency plans in place to deal with the potential impact on your business?

8. Are you considering entering any new markets?

9. Is there anything the Scottish Government, QMS or any other body could do to help, should our trading status change with the EU?