Netherlands braced for customs chaos in event of no deal
T
he Netherlands does not
have enough customs
officers and inspection
points to cope with its
worst-case Brexit
scenario in October, The
Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Port officials called for another delay
to the divorce process and warned that
shipments to the UK could be quaran-
tined for up to 24 hours.
Dutch officials have spent the last
two years meticulously preparing for
an avalanche of red tape after Brexit,
launching a recruitment drive for 920
customs officers, new inspection posts
to check animals and food, and 700
extra parking spaces at Rotterdam for
lorries without the correct paperwork.
However, by Oct 31, only around
550 customs officials will have been
fully trained, while investors have
already pulled out of the inspection
posts project and the port of
Rotterdam does not expect to reach its
target for overflow lorry spaces.
The frank assessments comes
despite the Netherlands feeling
confident that it is better prepared
than the UK, as its targets are based on
a worst-case scenario where
disruption turns out to be three times
more severe than predicted.
It also illustrates how even the most
pragmatic and efficient countries inthe EU are struggling to prepare for
the challenge posed by no deal.
Port officials warned they expect
disruption to last six to eight weeks
from Nov 1, with non-compliant lorries
carrying food for the UK quarantined
for up to 24 hours, at which point food
and flower shipments may go off
before they reach British warehouses.
“A truck that does not have its
papers in order is not allowed to enter
the terminal because of limited space,”
Mark Dijk, the port of Rotterdam’s
external affairs manager, said.
“Every truck which is refused is
guided by public road authorities to
parking places and has 24 hours to get
papers in order, otherwise it has to
leave the port. With perishable goods,
if they have to wait 24 hours then
probably all the goods are not fresh
anymore and can’t be used.”The port hoped to set up 700 extra
parking places to house the lorries, but
Mr Dijk said there were “still 200
places we are lacking, which is a big
problem...I don’t think we can reach
700 but we can run 600, I dare to say,
on the 31 October.”
Another major issue is the lack of
inspection facilities on Rotterdam’s
north bank, which trades solely within
the EU’s single market – but after
Brexit will require customs and food
checks due to EU rules.
An inspection post to check animals,
plants and food for diseases was being
prepared in nearby Naaldwijk, but the
private company behind the scheme
pulled out when Brexit was delayed by
six months in March.
Mr Dijk warned this would mean
that exports of live animals from the
UK, such as the three shipments ofbreeding chicks which arrive each day
at Rotterdam, would probably be
scrapped altogether.
One back-up plan involves
transferring all UK-bound goods to
Rotterdam’s south bank for
inspections, but Mr Didk said this
could prove to be a logistical
nightmare.
“Every chance there is to have a
Brexit with a deal, or not going on, is
welcome. So of course we are hoping
for an extra delay,” he added.
Roel van ‘t Veld, the Dutch customs
authorities’ Brexit co-ordinator,
insisted current staffing levels could
cope with no deal, but stressed that
port traffic would only run smoothly if
all traders carried the right paperwork.
Mr van ‘t Veld warned that just one
non-compliant lorry had the potential
to derail the process, and urged allbusinesses to sign up for the
Netherlands’ online Port Base system.
He added that many EU businesses
had still not signed up for the €
online service, perhaps because they
believe Brexit will be delayed again.
Senior politicians in the
Netherlands, one of the closest allies of
Britain in the EU, are now pessimistic
about the prospect of a deal, while one
MP said of the political chaos in the
UK: “Honestly, I don’t think the British
are British any more.”
Pieter Omtzigt, the Dutch
parliament’s Brexit rapporteur, said: “I
sincerely doubt whether we are ready
for a cliff-edge Brexit and have asked
the government to send the latest
planning and capacity to make sure we
are as well prepared as possible.”
However, he added that: “I believe
we are better prepared than the UK.”World news
Dispatch
By James Rothwell
in Rotterdam
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