When checks on food entering the UK from the EU begin on Tuesday, lorries will have to drive 22 miles from Dover to border control posts at Sevington on the outskirts of Ashford.
Anyone found to be carrying unsafe or contaminated food could be asked to turn around and drive back again.
The government has not explained how lorries will be monitored between the port and its control post, or how it will ensure goods that have been identified as unsafe leave the country.
“How are we going to make sure those products get back on the ferry?” asked Nan Jones, technical policy manager at the British Meat Processors Association. “With that gap, how do we know they haven’t unloaded a load of products when they’ve been rejected?”
Returning a large consignment of high value product like meat would constitute a big loss for a business, she said, so relabelling the product and finding an alternative market, like a wholesaler or restaurant markets, may be tempting.
“Once it’s in the country, if you’re that way inclined, there are ways you can disguise it,” Jones added.
The UK has been determined to “take back control” of its border and implement its own checks on goods from the EU, despite relying on the bloc’s border controls to keep UK consumers and animals safe for decades.
The EU carries out strict controls on all goods coming into the bloc, but exerts a lower degree of control on goods transiting, for example from outside the EU to the UK.
Officials at the Dover Port Health Authority, which is part of Dover District Council, have raised the alarm that commercial volumes of illegal meat have been making their way to the UK through non-trade routes on cars, vans and coaches.
Inspectors have seized tonnes of illegal meat, much of which is from Romania, where pork exports to other EU countries are banned due to African Swine Fever. Yet the DPHA said the government plans to cut their funding by 70 per cent.
The government said it had strict border controls in place to protect food and animal safety.
“Work is under way with the Food Standards Agency to ensure there are robust procedures in place for goods arriving at Sevington — an established border facility — to ensure there is absolutely no compromise on food safety or biosecurity,” said a spokesperson.
In a letter to environment secretary Steve Barclay earlier this month, the Cold Chain Federation trade group said the volumes of illegal meat seized at Dover demonstrated the determination of criminals to bring in and trade illicit goods.
“The 22-mile corridor now open to them, or indeed, other criminals to intercept high value goods, adds further risk to the UK food chain in that it provides numerous routes to exit from the inspection process,” the CCF wrote.
Farmers and producers meanwhile live in fear of an outbreak of disease that could wipe out herds.
“As a sector, we are doing everything within our power to protect our animals and prepare our businesses, but this is all just a futile effort if our borders are permitted to remain so vulnerable to illegally imported meat,” said, Rob Mutimer, chair of the National Pig Association.
Customs experts are concerned that the government is more occupied with avoiding queues and negative media coverage than implementing a secure system.
The new UK rate of checks for these goods will be between 1 and 30 per cent, depending on their risk category. Among goods counted as high risk are live animals; medium-risk goods include milk, eggs and most meats; while low-risk goods, which are not subject to physical checks, encompass products not intended for human consumption.
In the EU, animal and plant goods are subject to more stringent inspection rates: 15-30 per cent for dairy products and medium-risk meat compared with 1-10 per cent in the UK.
“Prioritising ‘highest risk’ goods at a mere 1 per cent inspection rate benefits trade, but falls short in ensuring food safety,” said Arne Milken, managing director of trade facilitation business Customs Manager.
Milken argued the solution was to secure a veterinary agreement with the EU, which would harmonise UK and EU animal health rules, removing the need for many of the physical checks on animal and plant products moving between the bloc and the UK. The EU has such an arrangement with Switzerland but Rishi Sunak’s government has ruled out seeking such a deal.
“This strikes the right balance between safety and trade ease,” said Milken. “To achieve this, we must break down Brexit’s ideological barriers.”
Another potential problem is that UK government computer systems used to identify potentially risky consignments are prone to errors, which could send thousands of trucks for physical inspection.
People who attended a meeting on border management on Tuesday with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said officials admitted the error rate was currently 33 per cent.
To avoid a third of goods turning up at border facilities, the government plans to phase in checks, starting with the highest risk goods.
“As we have always said, the goods posing the highest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as we build up to full check rates and high levels of compliance,” said Defra.
A spokesperson added there had been “extensive engagement” with businesses and their approach was welcomed by several trade associations and port authorities.
