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New passport checks could increase shop shelf prices, warns Logistics UK

[ September 5, 2024   //   ]

The new European Entry and Exit System (EES) for passport controls could increase food prices and lead to shortages in the shops, warns Logistics UK. It says that research, carried out by independent modelling expert MDS Transmodal, Logistics shows that it could have a significant impact on the UK’s supply chain unless delays can be mitigated or minimised:

Logistics UK says that worst case scenarios set out to the European Scrutiny Committee in Westminster by Ashford Borough Council estimated delays of up to 14 hours for passengers and this could have a knock-on impact to freight. Extra costs of £1,100 per truck would have to be passed on to consumers. Even if delays were limited to 90 minutes for the 3.35 million HGVs that passed through the Short Straits in 2023, the cost to the economy would be £400 million a year.

Moreover, says Logistics UK, EES is being implemented in parallel with regulatory changes on border control by the UK on EU imports. Following the introduction of documentary and risk-based identity and physical checks on goods in April 2024, Safety and Security Declarations will be required for imports into Great Britain from the EU from October 2024: these checks, alongside the EES biometric passport checks which will be needed for non-EU travellers, will multiply the risk of delays and congestion along entry routes to the Channel Ports, and put further pressure on the UK’s supply of fresh food and other commodities.  Green continues:

It says that delays could become a regular occurrence and have even more of an impact on the UK’s supply chain if an app-based solution is not implemented swiftly to take some pressure away from the border.

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