Irish, French and Czech lovers of the delicious pig-shaped sweets might have to wait a while before getting their hands on the British branded confectionary product.
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M&S actively working on a solution
Marks and Spencer CEO, Steve Rowe, explains that despite the free trade agreement with the EU, some recently implemented Brexit regulations might make distribution much more difficult for certain countries.
However, despite the disruption that might be generated by Brexit,the distribution issue will not be permanent as Marks and Spencer is said to be actively working on a solution, provided that Percy Pigs do in fact fall victim to the new regulations:
Essentially, there is about a third of the product in our food business that is subject to very complex rules of origin arrangements, around the components within it, and how much has been altered in the UK. Depending on that there is a variable tariff. Any product that's manufactured in Europe, comes to the UK and is then redistributed to somewhere like Republic of Ireland also, potentially faces a tariff.
He also adds that:
So, the best example is Percy Pig is actually manufactured in Germany, and if it comes to the UK and we then send it to Ireland, in theory, he would have some tax on it.
Even if complications arise, they would only be temporary
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove explained that in the event of a disruption in distribution thing will definitely get worse before they get better. But he also says that eventually things will improve once they get a better handle at managing the new regulations:
There are specific issues that arise because Northern Ireland has a land border with the European Union that is covered by the protocol, part of the Withdrawal Agreement that we have with the European Union, and we are working with supermarkets to ensure that Northern Ireland consumers can have an uninterrupted supply of the products they are used to enjoy
