IT systems failures at the UK border have caused major delays in shipments of fresh food from the EU, with importers complaining of chaos at the busiest border post as trucks were delayed for more than 24 hours.
Sky News understands that a key software system crashed over the weekend, leaving consignments of meat, cheese, fresh food and flowers held up for long periods while paperwork was processed manually.
The system failure comes just two weeks after the introduction of new processes that the government promised would be “world-leading”.
Physical controls on food and vegetable imports from the EU have been introduced at the end of April as part of a long-delayed post-Brexit border regime.
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Imports passing through the UK’s busiest port at Dover are now routed through a new border facility 22 miles inland at Sevington, Kent, where paperwork must be sorted out and any physical checks carried out.
Trucks arriving this weekend, however, faced long delays and chaotic scenes as a result of the Automatic License Verification System (ALVS) failure.
The ALVS system is expected to automatically clear goods through customs and, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), deliver “substantial time and efficiency savings for trade”.
Instead, border staff and importers faced problems almost immediately, with the most serious problems last weekend particularly affecting imports from Italy.
Patricia Michelson, founder of La Fromagerie, which imports cheese and other products from Europe, told Sky News that her shipments of fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese and cured meats were delayed by more than 48 hours.
Scheduled to be delivered at 6am on Monday, they only arrived on Tuesday morning after the truck was delayed in Sevington, leaving some of the products spoiled or unfit for sale because they may not have been kept refrigerated.
“It’s inexcusable, we spent days and weeks making sure we were ready for the new systems, getting the paperwork right, checking and rechecking to make sure everything ran smoothly.
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“We later discovered that the systems had failed, apparently due to a power failure, and our goods were returned and then held for hours.
“They’ve built a major new system, no doubt spending millions, and the second time we ask it doesn’t work. All we got from DEFRA as an explanation was to say everything is under control, when we know it’s total chaos.”
Michelson said the system’s flaws had increased the challenge of post-Brexit border controls for small, independent businesses.
“Large suppliers and importers have the scale to pay people to carry out their imports, but for smaller operators like me this just adds costs and disruption.”
Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Association, said his members had encountered “utter chaos” at the border since the weekend, with ongoing problems that will hit traders hard.
On Tuesday, a DEFRA spokesperson confirmed that three days after the accident, the systems had still not been restored.
“A power outage over the weekend affected one of the systems needed to process imports. For the majority of vehicles at the border there were no significant delays, but we immediately activated contingency arrangements for affected vehicles, working closely with HMRC and Border Force.
“We are working at a fast pace to resolve the issue and expect systems to return to normal functioning soon. Since introducing the checks, our teams have been working closely with merchants to ensure checks are completed efficiently and quickly .”
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