The Port of Rotterdam will stop the imports of livestock from the UK in April, as a key inspection point at the Port is not ready yet. As Mark Dijk, the port’s manager of external affairs, informed they experience some problems, including livestock. Brexit is now scheduled for April 12, instead of the original deadline of March 29.
About 40 million tons of shipments are transferred between the Port of Rotterdam and the UK every year. Now, port operators on both countries are trying to prepare for Brexit after decades of tariff-free trade between the UK.and the EU.
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In fact, the Dutch Food and Consumer Safety Authority, which is responsible for overseeing inspections of livestock, has hired around 100 veterinarians ahead of Brexit, but the building where these inspections will take place is still being constructed.
Moreover, Liesbeth Kooijman, head of imports for the authority, said that they are preparing for the worst-case scenario, as there are many uncertainties still to be cleared.
Furthermore, the Port of Rotterdam has made preparations to enable freight transport via the Port to run as smoothly as possible. For this transport to run smoothly, the Port said that cooperation is required from all parties in the logistics chain. In addition, it prepares for a hard Brexit, which means that the UK will leave the EU without a deal.
In order for everything to be ready, the Port aims to make customs as smooth as possible, by limiting the number of transit issues to England to an absolute minimum. Portbase will play a key role in this, which is the Port’s Community System. This is a program to automate all customs formalities.
In addition, the Port expects that for the first six to eight weeks some businesses will not be prepared enough and it is possible that they will not have their customs formalities organized yet. In such a case they will not be able to enter the gates of ferry terminals and they will have to go somewhere else to sort their paperwork.
In order to make sure that these trucks are served properly, five temporary parking spaces are created on the north and south bank. This aims to give the trucks the opportunity to arrange their paperwork and travel to the UK.
