Goods now crossing Channel at pre-Brexit speed, says tunnel chief
Goods are crossing from the EU to the UK at the same speed as they were before Brexit, the boss of the Channel tunnel has said.
Yann Leriche, the managing director of Eurotunnel, said that more than €111 million had been spent on changes at the terminals and on new “Border Pass” technology that allows hauliers to clear customs before arriving at the port.
It also removes the need for drivers of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to produce up to 100 individual pieces of customs paperwork at the tunnel terminals. About 25 per cent of UK-EU trade passes through the tunnel.
The new web app, which was created by Getlink, the company that operates the Channel tunnel, connects to French and UK customs systems, dramatically reducing queues at the terminals. The vast majority of HGVs are now travelling motorway-to-motorway on each side of the Channel in 90 minutes, including the 35-minute crossing on the shuttle.
Leriche told The Times: “The new controls don’t have to be made extremely bureaucratic. Because of major technological advances we are now processing freight vehicles in the same amount of time as we were before Brexit[1], which is obviously a huge bonus for hauliers.
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• Network Rail’s plan to unblock the Channel Tunnel[2]
“We had to look at the whole situation practically. Of course we built more lanes, to accommodate more HGVs, but the main thing was to digitise and use technology to speed up the new customs controls.”
Lorry drivers have complained about the complexity of customs paperwork since Brexit
JIM BENNETT
New rules on imports and exports between the EU and UK came into force on January 1, 2022. Under the Brexit agreement, traders must submit customs declarations for all goods exported from and imported into the UK, excluding those from Ireland.
Hauliers have complained at the level of complexity involved in the process. Leriche said that drivers turning up with a single incorrect or missing piece of paperwork were unable to proceed, which “could quickly cause a blockage”.
He added: “With the new Border Pass system, hauliers can effectively clear customs before arriving at our terminals. We have used an API [application programming interface] that allows us to connect with French and British authorities. Companies can upload all their documents and be assigned a ‘customs status’ before arriving on the other side of the Channel.
“We then have number-plate recognition, which means vehicles are directed appropriately on our terminals. Those that have cleared customs using the Border Pass can use special lanes to move quickly on to a shuttle. Only those that are not using the system must have manual checks.”
Officials from HM Revenue & Customs, Border Force and Defra have an inland border facility at Sevington, near Ashford, Kent, where vehicles coming from Europe that require manual inspections are directed. The French authorities have a similar facility, the Centre Douane SIVEP, near the French tunnel terminal, which checks goods vehicles bound for the Continent.
Executives from Eurotunnel, the Port of Dover and Eurostar are due to appear before MPs on the Commons European scrutiny committee on Wednesday to discuss post-Brexit border formalities for Britons visiting the Continent.
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Operation Brock[3], which sees HGVs stacked on the M20, and the Dover Tap, which controls the flow of goods vehicles in the port, are in operation ahead of the summer getaway period.
Transport providers are particularly concerned about the looming introduction of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES). The IT system, which will automatically monitor the border-crossing of third-country citizens and replace passport stamps, was due to come into force in May, but was then delayed until November before being further delayed. Sources now expect it to launch after the Paris Olympics next year.
Doug Bannister, the chief executive of Port of Dover, which is the UK’s busiest port, warned that under the worst-case scenario it could take up to ten minutes to process a single car. It currently takes 90 seconds.
“The moment it jumps to ten minutes a car, the whole thing will break down,” he said. However he voiced cautious optimism that “sense will prevail”. He added: “Being positive, in the last six months or so we’ve been working as a nation much better with the European Union. At the moment EES sounds like a very manual process but I believe [we] must be able to make it better than that and make it a digital entity.”