Kildare Chilling has warned that its livestock kill scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, December 22) is “in jeopardy due to the UK travel ban”.

The beef and lamb processor said: “Tuesday’s kill is in jeopardy at the moment due to the UK travel [ban].

“Awaiting developments but time is against us,” the meat company warned.

A number of countries announced bans on movements from the UK due to the new strain of Covid-19 prevalent in the southeast of England, with France closing its border to freight from the UK yesterday.

Earlier today (Monday, December 21), the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Tim Cullinan has said he is very concerned about the impact of border closures on the movement of our agri-food exports to the continent, and on the efficiency of the food supply chain.

“We have normal trade across to the UK. The difficulties relate to the movement of freight which is trying to get across the UK landbridge to the continent,” he said.

This level of disruption could be very damaging for the movement of stock off farms and the efficient functioning of the supply chain.

“There are reports of trucks backed up as they try to get to their market. Whatever restrictions are needed cannot impede the movement of food,” Cullinan added.

The farm organisation president said he will be contacting the Taoiseach Micheál Martin and asking him to intervene at EU level to clear any bottlenecks in the system.

“The problems with the orderly movement of goods underlines the importance of securing an agreement in the Brexit talks that avoids a ‘no-deal’ scenario,” Cullinan said.