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Industry groups: ‘No-deal’ Brexit risks ports and customs checks chaos

Monday, 16 November 2020 6:41 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 16 November 2020 6:41 PM ]

There are warnings of "chaos" at some British ports in the event of a no deal Brexit in the new year

With hopes fading for a post-Brexit trade deal, an influential industry group has warned that some British ports will find it “impossible” to carry out their fundamental tasks.

Boris Johnson lowers expectations of Brexit trade negotiations breakthrough

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Irrespective of the outcome of protracted post-Brexit trade talks, British ports and customs authorities are required to implement wide-ranging changes to border checks after 45 years of European Union (EU) membership.

However, the impact on the UK ports and borders infrastructure is expected to be much more severe if British and EU negotiators fail to secure a trade deal which places the economic relationship between the two sides on a stable footing.

UK and EU officials issue complex messaging on post-Brexit trade deal

As zero hour fast approaches UK and EU officials are still posturing on the all-important post-Brexit trade deal.

Appearing before the House of Lords EU goods sub-committee, the leadership of the British Ports Association (BPA) said some ports – and especially the smaller ones – will “not be able to cope” if customs consider all EU fresh foods and produce in the way that non-EU “third country” imports are currently treated.

The warning from the BPA comes in the wake of “chaos” at Britain’s largest container port at Felixstowe, with shipments reportedly delayed and several ships diverted to other ports.

In addition, port operators have complained that a key piece of the government software for haulage operators, designed to improve border processes, is not expected to be launched until a fortnight before the conclusion of the Brexit transition period on December 31.

Complaining about the software, Richard Ballantyne, who is the chief executive of the BPA, said that “the things we have needed to know about, it has been agonizing getting information out of government”.

Addressing peers at the House of Lords, Ballantyne made the following statement: "Their [customs authorities] regimes that mirror those third-country checks in a no-deal situation, as we may find ourselves in, effectively could be completely impossible for certain ports to accommodate with any practical, sensible approach”.

"It would put traders at a real disadvantage bringing their goods on certain routes if they know that a high percentage of those volumes need to be opened and inspected. We have found that very challenging”, Ballantyne added.