The disarray of Defra’s PEACH computer system this week is lessening but widespread concern among importers and their agents remains that it will not be able to cope with the peak Christmas trading period approaching.
The system is used by importers to apply for certificates from Horticultural Marketing Inspections and the new function of plant-health pre-notification. But its servers were relocated in London from Guildford over the weekend, putting it out of action until the middle of this week as technicians struggled to resolve a variety of problems.
The department told FPJ that following the weekend move there were “continuing issues”. These appeared to be resolved late in the evening on Tuesday, but during the downtime, consignments requiring urgent clearance had to be channelled to local inspectors for manual customs release. One of the main issues was an inability to print quarantine release certificates.
Defra’s plant health spokeswoman was apologetic for the difficulties experienced by the trade but said that traders should not have incurred any losses. “From a plant-health perspective there should not be any loss to the trade,” she said. “Submitting manually is the method of clearance traders/agents were using before the introduction of PEACH. Pre-notification is a legal requirement on importers, regardless of how we customs-clear consignments.”
But the Fresh Produce Consortium said the trade has lost confidence in the plant-health division’s ability to respond to the industry’s needs and concerns. “About 20 per cent of the annual volume of fresh produce imported into the UK is brought in during the three to four weeks before Christmas,” said FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney. “From a plant-health perspective, Defra should be considering whether it would be better to go live after the New Year, once the huge Christmas peak is over. The fact that they haven’t listened is barmy.”
The sector has become extremely frustrated. Up until the summer, traders and the FPC enjoyed a close working relationship with Defra plant-health officials to promote an effective and responsible implementation of the changes to the PEACH system as it moved towards becoming a dual plant-health certification and customs pre-notification system. But new implementation dates have slipped several times since then and an agreed trial period has been squeezed, leading to the current high level of industry concern.
However, Defra’s plant-health spokeswoman defends her department’s action to date. “We instigated a one-month trial period of the PEACH plant health import system from October 24. This was to ensure that the system was robust enough to go live. The trial was very successful. However, the go-live date of November 21 was postponed as a result of the relocation of Defra servers. This move has, unfortunately, resulted in significant downtime to the system. But PEACH is working at full capacity,” she said.
The FPC has now taken its concerns to “a very senior level” within Defra, and invites any traders with problems to get in contact.
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