Nursery and garden centre trade bodies write open letter saying problems at border need to be urgently fixed
The Sevington inland border facility in Ashford, Kent. New border post checks are adding at least 25% to firms’ costs, according to trade bodies.The Sevington inland border facility in Ashford, Kent. New border post checks are adding at least 25% to firms’ costs, according to trade bodies.have warned that new post-Brexit border posts are not working properly and are leading to delays, damage and significant extra costs for importers bringing plants into Britain.
The new rules mean certain plant and animal products coming into Britain from the EU must now be checked at border posts situated in or nearby British ports. Previously, plants were inspected in spot checks once they had reached nurseries.The trade bodies said the new system is causing delays and piling on costs. One haulage company said it experienced 93 hours of driver waiting time in the first week of the checks, costing it £38,000 in extra pay.
The letter was signed by International Flower Trade Association, whose membership accounts for 80% of the total value of worldwide trade of flowers and pot plants, as well as VGB, the Dutch association of wholesalers in floricultural products. Importers claim the posts are too small to process goods from multiple lorries, and they said there is insufficient equipment at nearly all facilities to unload plants such as large trees or those large plants not stacked into plant trolleys.
In one case, checks on a load of 50 mature olive trees were abandoned because of difficulties unloading. The letter said: “Olive trees are a well-known host for Xylella fastidiosa, a very high-risk and damaging bacterial disease.
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