Plant imports say long-term delays and damage to shipments at the Cent Control Control Post Roter Drioth up transport prices will stop cross-channel deliveries.
Traders have been reporting for weeks at the Government’s Syvington Facility on the M20 near Ashford, which was set up to inspect plant-based goods of EU origin. One import said delays add £200 to costs per load.
There are also warnings that trees and shrubs are repeatedly damaged when broken and mocked by lorries during inspections.
Since Brexit, shipments of animal products and plants between Britain and the EU require paperwork and are subject to strict border inspections as part of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls.
All plant products rated high or medium risk – including bedding plants, cut flowers and bark, which prevent British checks and prevent British diseases and prevent British diseases and British diseases and British diseases and British diseases from entering the country.
However, many traders faced serious problems during the border controls in Syvington, including trucks that were hit there for several days before being released.
A recent shipment of olive trees from a nursery in Pistoia in Italy, destined for premier plants near CHELSFORD in Essex, was started in five days, according to Company Karl Clark.
“It’s failing and increasing costs. We’ve been importing plants from Italy for over 20 years and it’s never been a problem before Brexit,” Clark said.
John Davidson, Finance director of Tom Brown Wholesale, which brings daily deliveries of flowers and plants to the Uk
“Three weeks ago we had three delays in a row, but the next week was good,” he said. “An hour or two’s delay will enable us to return to our business.”
Syvington’s latest delay comes at a busy time for importing plants, following a lull during the hot summer months and trees not being exported from the EU.
The main plants, which provide landscape designers, developers and local councils, said that the repeated delays of the damaged company that the company is not reliable. Clark estimates New Delays add an extra £200 to each load, on top of transport charges and administrative costs.
“Unfortunately, this time of year the delays aren’t too damaging, but you can imagine what it’s like in the summer; the plants are going to cook or dry out,” Clark said.
The Marco Innocenti family nursery in Tuscany is one of the leading suppliers of plants and supplies the UK twice a week.
When one of its latest shipments arrived with customers after Syvington’s checks, some of the planted plants inside the lorries split, while others broke branches. Innoceni called this “unacceptable” and blamed the damage on the truck that was “broken and reloaded carelessly”.
“We can’t go on like this,” he said. “The authorities must recognize the gravity of this issue.”
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The Syvington checkpoint costs £23m a year to run, According to a government estimate for the last financial year. Companies that import goods with SPS controls are required to pay a “regular user fee” for using the facility, whether it is inspected or not, and packaged with each delivery.
After construction, the facility was described as a “white elephant” and was not used for some time after the UK often delayed the introduction of checks on body and animal products from the EU.
However, it finally started in April 2024 and traders have reported a significant increase in goods requiring inspection in the current months, since the announcement of the “reset” of the EU announcement.
The industry body The horticultural businesses of traders (HTA) and many SPS traders in the EU that can get the necessary checks on those “cannot be implemented until 2027.
“The last few weeks have not been good in Syvington,” a logistics company told the Guardian. “Some companies are struggling with the costs and the damage. Finally some exports are probably going to say ‘sorry, we’re leaving the UK.'”
Outsourcing Firm Sodexo has been awarded a £184.5M contract by the government to run on the example of HYO 2023 also for the Department of the World, Customs of HUNSA 2023 also for the Department of the World of the World, Customs of the HYO, and the responsible Kost Dispa and Customer (Defra) Global posts.
Swiss-headquartered Logistics Companistics Kuehne + Nagel envisions Syvington vehicle inspections under an agreement with Subaexo. Kuehne + Mel and Sodexo did not respond to requests for comment.
The government is reviewing its procedures at border control posts, the Guardian understands. The government also knows that any complaints about damage are investigated, with an answer given to the trader as soon as possible.
A government spokesman said: “Protecting UK biosecurity remains one of our key posts to ensure that checks are effective, and that traders complete them smoothly, swiftly and without unnecessary delays.
“We are committed to negotiating an SPS agreement that could add up to £5.1bn a year to our economy, by cutting costs for British producers and retailers.”