Every day, from early morning to late at night, lorries pull up at an inconspicuous-looking warehouse located just off the M20 near Lympne in Kent. Less than half an hour by road from both the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone, trucks loaded with fresh produce come to a facility run by the logistics company PML to get consignments of goods arriving from overseas inspected, cleared for customs and sent on their way. In recent weeks, the site has been kept busy with the arrival of soft fruit such as blueberries and strawberries from Morocco, although the season is drawing to a close as domestic summer produce stocks UK’s supermarket shelves instead. However, a tower of four pallets of Moroccan raspberries, weighing about 1,600kg, are still stored in the warehouse, after failing an inspection by officials because of a suspected fungus.
At the moment, PML – which stands for Perishable Movements Ltd – only has approval from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to process goods such as fruit and vegetables, as well as plants, arriving from outside the EU. “We also bring sea freight containers here, including most of the UK’s favourite fruit,” says PML’s managing director, Mike Parr, opening the door to one of huge refrigerated inspection areas in the warehouse, built to government specifications. The incoming containers are often loaded with nectarines, plums and peaches from South Africa, or blueberries from South America. The company had been hoping the phased introduction of the government’s post-Brexit border strategy from this autumn would open up new opportunities for checks on EU goods as well, but this remains unclear. Providing officials are available to visit the site to carry out the checks, PML says the inspection process can take as little as 30 minutes, before the vehicle can be sent on its way to its destination. As a result, the fresh produce supply chain says it has previously relied on the option of having goods inspected at a location of its choosing, including at commercial facilities run by PML and its competitors. However, the government’s proposals for its new post-Brexit border strategy beginning this autumn will require all goods arriving from the EU that are subject to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls – including fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and plant – to pass through ports or government-operated facilities such as its new inland border control post at Sevington in Kent. In addition, under the government’s border target operating model (TOM) proposals, a charge of between £20 and £43 – known as the “common user charge” – will be levied on each consignment of food or plant imports arriving in the UK from January, whether or not they need to be checked. The government’s border proposals state that this charge will be payable on “each consignment which enters through Port of Dover and Eurotunnel that is eligible for SPS checks”. “The charge would apply to all eligible consignments, whether or not they are selected for a BCP (border control post) inspection.” Companies that transport and distribute fresh produce from overseas across Britain, say this will reduce choice and increase cost.
Spotting a potential business opportunity in the wake of Brexit, Parr bought the large 220,000 sq ft (20,438 sq metre) Kent site and invested £7m in developing the facilities about 18 months ago. However, as it stands, he does not know whether his firm will be granted permission by government to carry out goods or customs checks on cross-Channel shipments of EU fruit, vegetables, plants or other fresh produce arriving in Britain. He fears that the reliance on government-operated checkpoints at the introduction of the new border strategy will be an “absolute disaster”. He predicts that long delays at government BCPs for import controls – critical for perishable goods – could lead to fresh gaps on supermarket shelves, while the extra expense and administrative burden could see some exporters stop sending products to the UK. “Speaking to customers and suppliers from the EU, they have reached a point where the don’t really want to supply the UK any more,” Parr says. “They are saying they can’t do this any more because of the additional costs.” Concerns about the government’s border plans have prompted PML and its competitors in the food supply chain to jointly ring the alarm. Several of them that also have goods inspection facilities want to take part in the government’s “assured operator” trial – which would test using such commercially run sites to carry out EU produce checks – but all say they are waiting for details on how to apply. The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC), which claims to speak for 70% of the UK’s fresh produce supply chain – including businesses that produce, package, move and sell fresh fruit, vegetables, cut flowers and plants – has previously warned that the UK’s post-Brexit border strategy risks further pushing up food prices. Logistics firms are also concerned that small and medium-sized businesses, including market traders and restaurants bringing in items such as Italian mozzarella or French charcuterie, will be disproportionately affected by the common user charge. Smaller companies, importing much lower quantities of goods across the Channel than large supermarkets and wholesalers, have traditionally cut their costs by transporting different types of items from multiple suppliers on one truck, a practice known as “groupage”. The FPC says that each truck carries on average 10 consignments. However, under the border proposals, traders will be required to pay an import fee for each consignment, and a lorry could be stopped if just one supplier failed to provide the correct paperwork, therefore delaying the whole load.
“The market traders, the speciality shops on the high street, the guys that are ordering one pallet containing 50 items, or two pallets in a groupage truck, they are going to get nailed £2,000 a shipment. But supermarkets and value buyers might be able to buy huge truckloads of just one item, like potatoes, and only pay once for that shipment,” says Storme Valentine, the general manager at Morgan Cargo. “Obviously it is going to impact our economy and our choices. Small businesses, restaurants, market traders are not going to be able to get supplies unless they look for alternate sources.” Transport companies like PML say that, unlike the government facility at Sevington, they have the space to allow non-conforming consignments to be unloaded and stored at their premises, allowing the rest of the load to continue on its way. The government asked industry to share its view on how its new border plan would affect groupage movement, but fresh produce suppliers say their suggestions have fallen on deaf ears. The Guardian understands the government is considering responses received from businesses, and the final border strategy is expected to be released in the coming weeks. A government spokesperson said: “Growing the economy and supporting small businesses are priorities for this government.” They added: “The innovative risk-based approach of the target operating model exempts many goods from new paperwork or checks, meaning these can be imported using groupage models as happens today. Where certification and checks may be required, the trusted trader assurance schemes and groupage facilitations will help to reduce burdens and cost for many businesses, and facilitate the movement of goods.”