MPs heard that post-Brexit border rules have pushed vets to
chase lorries bound for Dover amid intense paperwork demands.
Toby Ovens of Broughton Transport told the commerce and
trade committee that a reset with the EU is "light at the end of the
tunnel," adding that Brexit has been a costly and logistical nightmare.
Bringing a bundle of documentation with 26 stamps instead of
the one sheet needed before Brexit, Ovens denounced the post-Brexit bureaucracy
he found when shipping lamb and animals to the continent.
“I’ve had vets chasing lorries down the M4 because they have suddenly realised they didn’t put the stamp in the right place on a piece of paper.”
The truck full of frozen beef that was detained in Calais
for 27 days because of a "paperwork error" was his worst experience.
In the end, he had to bill his client £16,000 for drivers to spend a month in
Calais with the refrigerated truck.
He claimed that since inspectors refused to accept fresh UK
documentation for BSE clearance, lorries were being held at Calais prior to
Christmas.
Ultimately, they relocated one truck to Chippenham for a
meeting with a veterinarian who gave them a bundle of new BSE certificates to
transport to Calais for the trucks that were being held in the port.
The first-hand reports validate
the pre-Brexit cautions of small enterprises, exporters, and hauliers who
couldn't pay the documentation.
Ovens' comments coincide with Brussels negotiators getting
ready to meet for the first time next week in London to discuss a new
veterinary agreement with the EU that aims to eliminate Brexit red tape.
The committee's head, Liam Byrne, informed the witnesses at
the beginning of the evidence session that red tape was costing the UK £8.4
billion.
In an effort to reach a sanitary and phytosanitary
agreement, negotiations to remove the red tape on exports of goods and
beverages will start in London next week. A second meeting is planned for
Brussels the following week.
The National Farmers' Union president, Tom Bradshaw,
emphasized the technical difficulties in reaching an agreement where farming
methods have already become more varied.
He said:
“Oat farmers are currently allowed to use four mycotoxins that are allowed in the UK but not yet in the EU. Does this require a transition agreement?”
The Confederation of British Industry's director for Europe,
Sean McGuire, claimed that the EU has been "very very lukewarm" on
other matters, such as mutual recognition of professional credentials like architecture.
What are the biosecurity risks of moving checks inland?
Moving checks inland from anchorages like Dover heightens
biosecurity pitfalls by dispersing potentially defiled goods across UK road
networks before discovery.
Lorries carrying unbounded meat, dairy, or shops cut
motorways, risking bottom- and- mouth complaint( FMD) or African Swine Fever
transmission via leaks, vehicle overspray, or waste jilting at services
saleyards amplify outbreaks as lamb travel 200 km from origin.
Inland Border installations( IBFs) like Sevington process 80 physical checkspost-Brexit, but detainments average 4- 7 hours versus harborage proximity, allowing rejected loads recirculation via secondary vehicles.