A new “agreement” to tighten the links after the painful divorce of Brexit. On Monday, London and Brussels concluded a “strategic association” that provides, among other things, a “dynamic and fast alignment” of the United Kingdom on the health rules of the European Union. Which easily facilitates trade since administrative and customs procedures will be eliminated in the “vast majority” of animal and plant products that pass the border.
For companies in the Logistics and Agrofood sectors, it is relief. However, the personnel responsible for carrying out the various controls in the ports welcomed the news with much more bitterness. What will be the consequences of this new employment agreement? “If there is no more control, we will close Calais,” worries at the Voix Du Nord Lucas Masson, CEO of Masson Border Assistance, a company specialized in customs, health and phytosanitary controls.
According to the regional newspaper, the reduction of the activity linked to the relaxation of these formalities could refer to several dozen employees assigned to these controls in the ports of northern France. The same concern on the other side of the channel where one wonders what will be of the new border control position specially constructed to treat administrative and customs overload overload.
“White Elephant”
In Portsmouth, the border control station only entered the service last year, two years after its construction. The 8,000 square meter site was already qualified at the time of “white elephant” by port director Mike Sellers, while the previous conservative government had repeatedly postponed the entry into the force of import products controls. As a result, three checks have been carried out on average every day in the last twelve months against 80 originally expected, reports The Guardian.
With the new agreement signed on Monday, Mike Sellers now esteems in the British Daily newspaper that the PortSmouth port control station will become “useless.”
“Any measure that can rationalize the circulation of goods and passengers around the port is welcome, even if the devil is hidden in detail,” Tempers Mike Sellers. The fact is that the billing of the goods to be inspected during the checks was not enough to cover the costs of the infrastructure. No more than 17.1 million pounds granted by the British government, while the port claimed 32 million.
Ports require government compensation
The Portsmouth border control station is one of the 100 positions created throughout the United Kingdom from Brexit. 40 ports in the country benefited from the public support of 200 million pounds to finance their construction, but the ports were still forced to pay 120 million pounds of their pockets, according to the British port association (BPA).
If the organization welcomes the new agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom, it now requests compensation from the British Government: “This agreement means that many new positions of border controls built (…) To manage the controls that have never materialized completely now it is likely to become obsolete,” they warned of the BPA general whose words are informed by politician.
For him, “the reconstruction and modification of border facilities is very expensive, and in some cases it will be more profitable to demolish them.” In Portsmouth, the operating costs of the control station comprising 15 locations for trucks would amount to 200,000 pounds per year. The City Council of the City that has helped finance infrastructure up to 6 million pounds also requires compensation of the State.
“We have repeatedly requested a clear orientation in the future of border control stalls. Ours is a great infrastructure that occupies 8,000 square meters of operational lands and has led to a loss of commercial opportunities for the port,” said Steve Pitt, head of the Municipal Council.
Source: BFM TV
