Brussels – Risk of chaos at the EU-Britain border looms as physical checks will come into effect in the coming weeks and there are no facilities or personnel. There’s a risk, for example, of import-export blockades and hours-long queues for rail travel. Price increases, especially across the Channel, or even shortages of goods are possible. As early as January 31, sanitary certification was introduced on imports of medium-risk animal products, plants, plant products, and high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin from the European Union, which exporters to the UK will have to procure.
The next and most critical phase of the Border Target operating model (BTOM) will begin on April 30. From that date, UK customs will also physically check imported products through so-called Border Control Posts (BCP) located, for example, at British ports and airports. Finally, from October 31, all import shipments from the EU will be subject to a declaration at UK customs.
Are European and British companies prepared for this big bang, postponed for three years in a row? An Institute of Export and International Trade survey in October found that less than one-fifth of UK companies were aware of the possible repercussions for them. For European companies, too, there is confusion.
Tom Southall, Executive Director of the Cold Chain Federation, the UK trade association for the temperature-controlled logistics industry, stated a few days ago on the Guardian that the recent delays were mainly because European companies were not ready. “There has been a lot of concern that there has not been sufficient engagement with EU member states to get them ready, he said. “And this has the risk that if we introduce these requirements, there could be a drop-off in food imports because suppliers aren’t ready.”
“There is another issue: in the year’s second half, probably after the Olympics in France, the Entry and Exit System will be triggered in Europe. Basically, you will need a visa to enter our Continent, as is the case in the US”, underlines Alberto Mazzola, Transport representative in the Domestic Advisory group, a kind of council that groups European businesses, unions, and consumers with British ones. “There will be a physical check for British people at the border; the mayor of London even speculated possible six-hour queues at the station. And then those who go to work in Britain will be subject to more stringent authorization regimes; European companies will have to prove that they can operate in the British market because there is no counterpart across the Channel.”
A complex situation, Mazzola acknowledges. “I don’t think we are prepared for this”. On the horizon “there are critical issues at the ports and in the rail world” because “there is a lack of physical facilities for all cargo controls and a lack of personnel as well.” So “welcome the rules, let them be known, otherwise investment stops because of uncertainty about regulations and costs… but by starting like this without adequate preparation,” Mazzola concludes, “you risk chaos as well as economic damage. The British will now understand how useful the single market was, a warning for Italy as well.”
