Wales-based drugs manufacturer ‘forced to move to Ireland’ because of Brexit

A Wales-based drugs manufacturer has been forced to move to Ireland because of Brexit, it has been claimed.

Ian Price, Wales Director of the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) told the Welsh Affairs Committee that the unnamed company is moving production in order to circumvent friction at the UK border with the EU.

He told the MP’s on the committee that the friction it had to deal with since the trade agreement Boris Johnson signed with the EU came into force, delayed their company’s exports of time-sensitive cancer drugs to the continent, which had to be destroyed as a result.

Mr Price, who declined to name the company in question, said: “There is one instance I am aware of that they have already moved production of a particular item to Dublin because they can’t in the time allowed continue to make it in Wales.

“It’s a time-sensitive cancer drug that they were importing into Europe and sadly, as a consequence of the arrangement of the deal, they’ve now got two or three hundred consignments blocked somewhere in the system in Europe, having to be thrown”.

‘Shocking’ 

Committee Chair Stephen Crabb, who is the Conservative MP for Parliament for Preseli Pembrokeshire, told Politics Home: “It was shocking and concerning to hear that consignments of time-sensitive cancer medication, transported to the EU from Wales, have had to be thrown away,” Crabb said.

“We will be seeking urgent clarification from the Government on the accuracy of this, but if true, this is no doubt something our committee will want to explore further”.

Mr Price said that businesses had been “spooked” by the new red tape, and told MPs that “the mountain of paperwork is terrifying and when you haven’t had to do it previously, it does come as a bit of a shock”.

Speaking after the committee session, Mr Price warned that even more problems would emerge for businesses this month as cross-border traffic returns to normal levels.

He said: “Businesses have worked at breakneck speed to adjust to the realities, navigate barriers and assess the practical implications of the new UK-EU trading relationship.

“It’s clear that as trade flows return to their normal levels in the coming weeks fresh complications for importers and exporters will be revealed”.

Ben Lake, the Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion said: “The UK Government must pursue these issues with urgency if we are to avoid businesses – including farmers, wholesalers, hauliers and fishermen – having to take difficult decisions.”