Brexit IT problems at the border can delay perishable imports to UK by as much as 20 hours

The UK’s most busy Brexit post is holding up to 20-hours of trucks carrying plants and perishable foods from the EU due to IT system failures.

Businesses have called the new border controls by the government a disaster after IT failures caused lorries to be held up for long periods of time, reducing their shelf life and forcing retailers to reject orders.

Last weekend was the worst, as dozens of trucks were held up at the control post of the government serving Dover and Channel Tunnel for between 8 and 20 hours because the IT system which registers goods failed.

As part of the post-Brexit regime, ministers began this month by introducing physical inspections of animal and plant products imported from the EU.

Since their introduction, however, problems with the government’s Automatic Licence Verification System have caused an increase in the number of lorries to be held at border post for long hours as the documents are checked manually.

A company that imports Italian products said that 18 of 23 lorries which came through Dover’s Port were sent to Sevington. Some had to wait from nine to twenty hours before they could be released.

One lorry was able to enter the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs facility at 6am Sunday morning, but only leave at 2am on Monday morning.

Unnamed manager of the company said, “We expected maximum hold-ups to be four hours and if they were not checked by that time, they would be freed.” This is much longer.”

The government confirmed on Sunday that a technical problem had affected Defra’s digital services, which affected ALVS.

Importers were forced to submit their documents manually to border officials for inspection before they could be released. Defra stated that there were no delays in border checks.

The managing director for a Polish transport firm said that the weekend was a “disaster”, resulting in many angry customers. He said that there was “huge disorder” and a lack information regarding the status of lorries.

The Guardian reported that Mariusz, the driver who was held in Sevington more than eight-hours, had been late for his drop-off. He claimed that 25 other lorries were stuck in Sevington for up to 15 hours.

On Sunday, other custom agents and importers complained about not being able to reach Defra officials by phone.

The representative of a firm that ships 70 lorries per week to the UK said 40 vehicles were sent to Sevington for document checks last week, and the delays led to some customers refusing to accept deliveries.

He said: “We are bringing fresh products to the UK from Poland and Eastern Europe. It can take up to two days for them to arrive. “If there’s another delay, even by a few days, it will be too late for us to sell to our final customers.”

The ALVS was down twice before, according to traders.

Nigel Jenney is the CEO of the Fresh Produce Consortium. He said, “There have been many incidents similar to this over the past two weeks and several other minor issues.” The concern factor is huge. It’s not only causing huge disruption but also a large cost to the industry.”

A spokesperson for Defra said: “A power failure over the weekend affected a system required to process imports. There were no delays for the majority of vehicles crossing the border, but contingency plans were immediately implemented to deal with the affected vehicles. We worked alongside HMRC and Border Force.

We are working quickly to resolve this issue, and we expect the systems to be back to normal functionality soon. Our teams have worked closely with traders since the introduction of checks to ensure that checks are completed efficiently.