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No post-Brexit chaos if customs paperwork done properly, says Calais port chief


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No post-Brexit chaos if customs paperwork done properly, says Calais port chief

By Noemie Olive

 

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CALAIS, France (Reuters) - Calais, France’s busiest road freight port, is ready for the return of customs formalities on trade moving between Britain and the European Union and will avoid chaotic queues of trucks if businesses follow procedures, its chief executive said.

 

Britain formally transitions out of the EU’s customs union and single market at 2300 GMT on Dec 31, after which companies will have to complete customs declarations whether there is a post-Brexit trade deal or not.

 

Businesses shifting goods between Britain and the world’s largest trading bloc have warned of major disruption to just-in-time supply chains.

 

“Brexit is not synonymous with chaos. Brexit is not synonymous with a snarling up of traffic,” Calais port chief Jean-Marc Puissesseau told Reuters. “If customs declarations are done as they should be, ahead of time, I don’t see a problem.”

 

Calais-Dover is the shortest sea route between Britain and the EU - just 23 miles (37 km) - and Calais handles some 2 million trucks per year. The port has invested 6 million euros in infrastructure to restore a hard border.

 

French customs officials acknowledge they have no idea how many companies from Portugal in Europe’s west to Romania and Poland in the east will be prepared to confront the wall of bureaucracy to move across the new hard border.

 

France’s National Federation of Road Hauliers (FNTR) said delays would mean additional costs that eat into tight margins. Some logistics companies were trying to negotiate protection against delays caused by border holdups in contracts, it said.

 

“We’ll be at the centre of problems that arise in the first weeks,” said Isabelle Maitre, employed by the FNTR, which represents transport companies, in Brussels. “When trucks are on the move, it’s a sign the economy is functioning.”

 

Puissesseau’s remarks that “Calais is ready” came even as queued trucks snaked along the port’s access road, with British companies rushing to stockpile.

 

The tailbacks happened because ferry operators had removed two vessels from operations because of a pandemic-induced fall in tourist passengers. That reduced truck capacity, he said.

 

There were longer tailbacks at the nearby Eurotunnel terminal. A Reuters photographer saw migrants attempting to board lorries destined for Britain.

 

Dover, Europe’s busiest trucking port, expects some disruption on Dec. 31 and is already seeing almost record volumes as companies rush to stockpile, its chief executive said on Thursday.

 

The maritime route across the narrow Strait of Dover has been one of Britain’s main arteries for European trade since the Middle Ages. A 700 million euro expansion of the port of Calais is due to be completed early next year.

 

“Today, we’re suffering from two viruses: Brexit and the coronavirus,” Puissesseau said. “Next year we convalesce. We learn how Brexit works, and the virus will hopefully be behind us. And in 2022, the tourists return.

 

“I’m not pessimistic about the future.”

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-18
 
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20 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The French will make sure there are plenty of problems, even if there aren't any. Macron will make sure of that.

 

Can't have leaving the EU look easy.  The whole thing would crumble. Like any mafia, there must be consequences to leaving.

 

Expect blockades, go slows, extra checks from our "friends and partners".

 

 

never forget to blame the French, it's cheap and easy..available to anyone whatever the cause

for more information

"I don’t think many people can comprehend the carnage which is about to ensue" (hortidaily.com)

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21 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The French will make sure there are plenty of problems, even if there aren't any. Macron will make sure of that.

 

Can't have leaving the EU look easy.  The whole thing would crumble. Like any mafia, there must be consequences to leaving.

 

Expect blockades, go slows, extra checks from our "friends and partners".

 

 

its frances fault the uk doesnt follow frances customs laws?

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22 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The French will make sure there are plenty of problems, even if there aren't any. Macron will make sure of that.

 

Can't have leaving the EU look easy.  The whole thing would crumble. Like any mafia, there must be consequences to leaving.

 

Expect blockades, go slows, extra checks from our "friends and partners".

 

 

And yet it is a "Frenchie" saying that there is no problem at Calais, if everyone has the correct paperwork.  Possibly correct as many of the transport companies are looking at alternatives routes to Calais.  Of course there will be an extra cost to that.  

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7 minutes ago, Victornoir said:

They wanted to regain their sovereignty but now find themselves hostages to the goodwill of the French, Belgians and Dutch for their vital supplies.


The old story of the watered sprinkler that's starting to cost me dearly in popcorn.


Dear English friends, you must now learn to ask and ask again, without forgetting to politely add please to each request.


I write English conscientiously because without doubt the other nations that make up UK will want quikly to free themselves from the Westminster mafia and its unelected bureaucrats.

And then you woke up and found that you were dreaming

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10 minutes ago, Victornoir said:

They wanted to regain their sovereignty but now find themselves hostages to the goodwill of the French, Belgians and Dutch for their vital supplies.


The old story of the watered sprinkler that's starting to cost me dearly in popcorn.


Dear English friends, you must now learn to ask and ask again, without forgetting to politely add please to each request.


I write English conscientiously because without doubt the other nations that make up UK will want quikly to free themselves from the Westminster mafia and its unelected bureaucrats.

I don't think anyone thinks that Brexit has been a success on any level but it is done now and the Brits are a resilient lot and will come back from this fiasco stronger in the long run.

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23 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The French will make sure there are plenty of problems, even if there aren't any. Macron will make sure of that.

 

Can't have leaving the EU look easy.  The whole thing would crumble. Like any mafia, there must be consequences to leaving.

 

Expect blockades, go slows, extra checks from our "friends and partners".

 

 

why always blaming somebody else... the UK is an island with no land border with anybody, how can they not see that they need somebody to let them thru their borders to allow the UK access to any place in Europe, an island for God's sake, don't cut off your nose to spike your face

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2 hours ago, puipuitom said:

The Chaos is on the other side = UK.

I didn't see any long waiting line on the French side, these Brexiters must have their eyesight checked up  or their geopositioning updated/checked

Edited by Mavideol
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11 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

I don't think anyone thinks that Brexit has been a success on any level but it is done now and the Brits are a resilient lot and will come back from this fiasco stronger in the long run.

wishful thinking .... time will tell

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2 minutes ago, evadgib said:

They'll be Rejoiners from 01 Jan :giggle:

Suppose they’ll have to be something, as Brexit will be well and truly done. Remaining will be not only a thing of the past, but an impossibility.

We know they won’t stop moaning but their monika reflecting that is not allowed on TVF. 

Rejoining is so unsupported by even the most stupid of them that its a non starter really. 

Any of them able to suggest what they will they be referring to themselves as from 2021? What does the Grauniad think it will be?

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2 minutes ago, Loiner said:

Suppose they’ll have to be something, as Brexit will be well and truly done. Remaining will be not only a thing of the past, but an impossibility.

We know they won’t stop moaning but their monika reflecting that is not allowed on TVF. 

Rejoining is so unsupported by even the most stupid of them that its a non starter really. 

Any of them able to suggest what they will they be referring to themselves as from 2021? What does the Grauniad think it will be?

...the irony being that we will then be expected to toe-the-line re 'losers (????) consent????

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