The fresh produce, horticultural and food sectors have slammed new import checks under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) introduced on 30 April after software and other issues added to the predicted chaos.
According to reports, a technical glitch in the automatic licence verification system, which links the Custom Declaration Service and the new Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), caused a backlog of trucks at Sevington in Kent, the UK’s only 24-hour border facility. HMRC denied claims that at one point the queue consisted of nearly 300 lorries.
“The IT system failed yesterday evening (5 May) so manual clearances have been invoked by Government, causing more chaos and delay at the border tonight,” said Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium. “The complexity and confusion at the borders have thrown the flower industry into chaos just as we approach a major selling season.”
The issues came shortly after ITV reported that ‘a staggering one-third of import declarations are being rejected.’ A spokesman for Defra told ITV News, “Checks are now underway, with the highest risk goods our priority. Our flexible approach will minimise disruption, protecting everyone – especially traders.”
Previously Defra had suggested that it would aim to check between 3% and 5% of consignments containing ‘medium-risk’ products such as cut flowers, but the Guardian suggested the actual figure was much higher, with some traders having every lorry inspected.
Freddie Heathcote, owner of flower and plant wholesaler Green and Bloom told the newspaper that each one of his daily trucks had been flagged for inspection. On Wednesday, his driver arrived at the border control post at Sevington at 11pm. “He was told to wait where he was,” Heathcote said. “He sat there for seven-and-a-half hours and at no point was his truck opened. And then he was told he could leave at 7.10am. We had in the region of 50 wholesale orders going out the door on Thursday, but nothing arrived. “So, we weren’t able to service those customers.”