British Prime Minister Theresa May now has till the end of October to get backing from the House of Commons for her plan to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union with a 21-month transition during which trade would continue as normal while a comprehensive trade deal with its nearest neighbour is negotiated.
If she fails trade between the UK and the EU again faces being thrown into disarray.
Delays at ports as border officials get to grips with significant new tariffs and documentation threaten disruption to imports into the UK from outside the EU too.
However, Hastings-based Mr Apple chief executive Andrew van Workum says any hold-ups will come too late to disrupt New Zealand apple exports, that have well and truly cleared British customs by the end of October.
“We are landing most of the product through September and early October is the end of it.
“So, actually, that date isn’t a problem for us either.”
It’s not the first time apple exports have dodged potential Brexit border chaos.
The end of March Brexit deadline came before apple exports got fully into gear.
Contrast that to the meat industry, which has to plan for potential delays at the border at the end of October just as chilled lamb exports for the crucial Christmas market get under way.
That comes after the earlier March Brexit date coincided with crucial shipping deadlines for the equally important Easter chilled lamb market.
Delaying Brexit isn’t solving any headaches for the wine industry either.
At the start of the year the largest supplier of NZ sauvignon blanc to the UK, Villa Maria, was double-shifting plants to get as much as possible of its wine on the water and landed in the UK to avoid any potential disruption come the end of March Brexit deadline.
Customers were given extended credit terms as an incentive to build up stocks.
Chief executive Fabian Yukich said it was forced into the move to protect is hard-won position on British supermarket shelves, which it was not prepared to surrender to rivals in the event of hold-ups at the border.
“It is like insurance that you put in place and hope that you will not have to call on.
“We will do the same thing again if it is needed at the time.”
Yukich said Villa Maria has run down its stocks since but is ready to ramp up protection again the closer the UK gets to the end of October without a deal for an orderly departure from the EU in the bag.
