The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) will meet today with Defra officials as plant-health procedures for many importers continue in disarray.
Uncertainty prevails in relation to the closure of Customs offices at ports. This is despite the practice established by Defra of entry-processing activity being handled at a national clearance hub in Manchester where individual ports’ Customs offices have closed.
“But there is still a lack of clarity over procedures at the ports that have not migrated to Manchester yet,” said FPC ceo Nigel Jenney.
FPC members have highlighted a number of problems caused by the movement of entry-processing units to Manchester, especially users of the port of Tilbury. “We understand that problems have included entries going missing, lost faxes and lost e-mails,” said Jenney.
Jenney’s colleague Douglas Pattie is urging any members experiencing delays at the port of Southampton this week to get in touch. “Importers may have been feeling the effects of a lack of inspection facilities at Southampton this week with a large number of arrivals from South Africa and a great potential for delays,” said Pattie.
“Products subject to marketing standards inspections only should avoid the worst problems, but consignments that require a plant-health inspection may be delayed. If anyone has any such experiences, please let us know so we can bring it up with the port authorities.”
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