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Port of Calais now ready for ‘no deal’ Brexit
British lorry drivers crossing to France must get used to having correct customs paperwork if the UK leaves with no deal, says the head of the port of Calais.
It is just what it means to leave the EU, said Jean-Marc Puissesseau.
He spoke to Connexion after the Daily Telegraph quoted a UK haulage chief complaining that trucks would be unable to board at Dover without the right paperwork.
He said: “We, at Calais, are ready to cope with a hard [no-deal] Brexit but the only solution for drivers is to make their customs declarations – that they will be obliged to make – because Britain voted for a Brexit.
“The hauliers must understand that Britain is leaving the EU and becoming a third country. When goods travel to the EU from a third country, that is what happens.”
Mr Puissesseau said drivers coming from the UK would have to present declarations at Dover. If they do not, he hopes Dover will offer offices and assistants to help them, as Calais will do for trucks coming from France.
“It’s like when you take a plane – if you do not have a passport, you can’t fly,” he said.
If they do not have paperwork, there may be chaos in the UK, but not in France, he said. “In any case if they don’t declare, they’ll have complications: they won’t be able to reclaim VAT or have certificates to sell into the EU market.”
The declarations will be sent electronically to Calais and drivers will be told on the ferry if they need to take a green or orange lane on arrival, depending on factors such as the goods they are carrying.
Cameras at Calais will scan numberplates so officials know what is in each truck.
Green lane vehicles, the majority, will not stop; orange lane vehicles will be taken aside for further checks, ranging from inspecting documents to visual or physical checks of merchandise.
Coming from France, if trucks have their papers, there will be no checks of merchandise at Calais.
“The first days of a no-deal would no doubt be difficult, but every-thing’s been done so there’s no jam, no problem,” Mr Puissesseau said.
But the situation had been “very tiring” and they had spent €6million preparing. He now hopes the UK leaves as soon as possible.
When Connexion spoke to him in April 2014, he hoped, in a Brexit with a deal and transition period, it would be possible to have only outbound checks, saying checks on both sides would cause “impossible” delays.
He also spoke of how he found it hard to think of Britain as a “third country” as it was “part of the European family”.
