The Guardian UK Business reported that food shipments crossing the Channel are facing significant delays due to post-Brexit inspection procedures, with one lorry driver spending nine hours at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais waiting for clearance. The driver, Daniel Vasco, was transporting perishable goods including Morrisons products and other British supermarket items destined for Gibraltar when his truck was stopped for checks. A consignment of three boxes of spinach and ricotta cannelloni was removed from the vehicle because of a paperwork error: a health official had entered the current date instead of the use-by date of 16 November on the documentation. According to Olivier Colin, the director of customer service for Eurotunnel in France, the truck required 78 different files to be created for the shipment.
The delays and complications highlight the reality of operating under post-Brexit arrangements. Paperwork requirements including export health certificates, customs paperwork, veterinary certificates for meat and transit documents did not exist when the UK was in the EU's single market. In one refrigerated unit at the Calais terminal, two pig carcasses had fallen from their hanging positions during transit, creating a contamination risk that meant they had to be removed and destroyed under the rules. A report published by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed that small to medium-sized businesses have been worst hit by the Brexit checks.
Relief may be on the way. Next Friday Andy Burnham and EU leaders are expected to sign a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal that will make exports of fresh food, drink and animal products easier. However, without a full return to the single market, not all checks will disappear, as customs declarations will still be required. The earliest the new SPS deal will be implemented is January 2028, because UK legislation must be passed to realign continuously with EU regulations on food and animal products.
Yann Leriche, the chief executive of Getlink (which owns Eurotunnel), said the company invested EUR 60m (GBP 50m) in Brexit infrastructure but would have preferred not to make the investment. He noted that Getlink carries 26% of trade between Europe and the UK, and that trade has declined just over 20% in both directions since Brexit, with exports of poultry and eggs collapsing in particular. The SPS deal could boost UK agri-food exports to the EU by up to 22.5%, according to an Aston University report cited by Defra, and government estimates suggest it would increase GDP by up to GBP 5.1bn by 2040.
The costs of current procedures are substantial. Each consignment needs export health certificates costing GBP 200, a pre-notification pack costing about GBP 40 and a common user charge of between GBP 80 and GBP 100. Drivers also face charges of EUR 200 to EUR 700 if they face a full unload. After the SPS deal, costs could be reduced by ten times, according to Leriche. Pet passports will also return as a benefit: current animal health certificates cost about GBP 200 and must be issued within 10 days of travel.
For savers, borrowers, business owners and investors in the UK, the delays and costs mean that food and agriculture exporters have faced significantly higher expenses and reduced market access since Brexit, with many small and medium-sized exporters stopping EU sales entirely.