London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A new wave of Brexit border checks is putting some trading relationships at “breaking point” for European exporters of plants and flowers, according to garden centres and nurseries.
The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), which represents garden retailers and growers, expressed long-held connections between British nurseries and EU suppliers were now being placed under strain because of the delays and expenses associated with the new border procedures.
How are new border checks impacting plant exporters?
The observations were included in a letter to Lady Hayman, the borders, biosecurity and plant health minister, dispatched by the HTA, in which it stated that some specialist transporters were now shrinking from the UK market completely. On 30 April the government raised new checks on plant and animal products penetrating the UK from the EU. The actions were brought in at selected border posts at ports to improve Britain’s biosecurity and prevent harmful plant and animal diseases from entering the country.
What concerns does the HTA raise about trade delays?
Remarking on the introduction of these checks, the letter stated: “All parties involved in carrying plants, trees, flowers, bulbs and seeds between the EU and the UK are now doing so under maximum stress, facing unmanageable increases in prices, experiencing painful border strategies yet with minimal information with which to do it. We acknowledge the need for a strong biosecure system yet one that still facilitates and encourages legitimate trade.”
What incidents have caused disruptions at border posts?
The letter was initiated by an incident at the government’s Sevington border control post in Ashford last week, in which several lorries transporting plants from Italy were kept for more than eight days over suspicions they were transporting pests into Britain.
The government stated that all consignments that had been held up and tried were found to have traces of the pest and these vital checks had stopped them from entering the land.
However, affected suppliers have been highly critical of the absence of communication as to why the goods were being held, with the HTA stating the lack of clear information was “completely unacceptable”.
Vincenzo Marini, the chief executive of the haulage company Marini, which ships 15 lorries a week to the UK, said that one of his drivers was compelled to stay in Kent, near Sevington, for six days after his business received no information on why their load had been kept and when it would be discharged.
He said: “The lorry has now been blocked for eight days and today I had to switch drivers – the first one was sleeping in the lorry all this time. How could I leave him there without any information on how long this would take? We are kept in the dark about everything.”