Red tape cut offers India boost to Lancashire animal nutrition firm

VetPlus is eyeing a possible £1.4 m sales boost over the next five years after the Government helped cut red tape preventing it selling to India.

The intervention by the Department for International Trade could benefit businesses across the whole of the UK – as India has a pet population of over 29 million, according to industry estimates.

DIT has worked with the animal welfare and nutrition provider to resolve an existing trade barrier which made it difficult to export to India, an import market worth £2.4bn.

The Export Health Certificate required under the old regulations wasn’t compliant with UK legislation. DIT worked with the Government of India to resolve the issue and agree new language compatible with laws in both countries.

It follows the launch of the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership last year, which is working to cut red tape for businesses and support UK jobs.

VetPlus was founded in 1995 and is a specialist in veterinary nutraceuticals, with distributors in over 40 countries. More than 90 per cent of its products are produced in-house at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Lytham, which supports 120 jobs in Lytham.

Anthony Sewart, VetPlus regional manager, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “Being able to meet the different regulatory and compliance requirements across the markets we operate in is extremely important to ensure the consistent supply and availability of our products for vets and pet owners.

“Recently, we ran into a challenge in exporting our products to India. The changes to requirements for the Export Health Certificate meant that we were temporarily unable to get our products to our Indian distribution partner.

"Levels of complexity meant that acquiring the correct documentation could have been a time-consuming task. It was essential that we were able to resolve it quickly, to ensure that pet owners were able to obtain the nutraceutical products their pets needed without breaks to their treatment support.

“The support from the DIT was fantastic. They were able to put us in touch with the right people to help us liaise with the Indian authorities and facilitate the appropriate documentation to enable VetPlus to re-start the export of our products to India.”

International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena said: “India is a dynamic and fast-growing trade partner and it’s fantastic to see first-hand how our enhanced trade partnership is helping to create brilliant opportunities for British businesses, supporting jobs in every corner of our country.

“By eliminating barriers to trade, we can unlock new markets and create opportunities for businesses like VetPlus to sell their great British products in major markets worldwide.”

Earlier this year the UK launched negotiations on a new UK-India Free Trade Agreement. A comprehensive trade deal with India offers the opportunity to deepen our already strong relationship, which was worth £24.3bn in 2021.

The fourth round of negotiations on a UK-India Free Trade Agreement recently concluded.