Brexit: UK Secures Ferry Space For Medicines To Circumvent Port Delays
Industry Still Waiting For Details Of Booking Arrangements
Executive Summary
New checks due to be imposed when the UK leaves the EU single market and customs union in 2021 are expected to cause widespread disruption to consignments of medicines and other vital goods at the Channel ports. The government says it has secured space on nine new ferry routes in an effort to help keep supplies going.
The UK government has signed contracts with four ferry companies that it says will ensure the continued “smooth delivery” of “vital medical supplies and other critical goods” from the beginning of next year, whatever happens in the post-Brexit trade negotiations between the UK and the EU.
The contracts, which are collectively worth £77.6m ($100m), were agreed with Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O and Stena. They will provide capacity equivalent to more than 3,000 heavy goods vehicles a week, thereby “mitigating the risk of disruption as the UK and EU adjust to new border processes at the end of the transition period,” the government announced on 13 October.
“Securing these contracts ensures that irrespective of the outcome of the negotiations, lifesaving medical supplies and other critical goods can continue to enter the UK from the moment we leave the EU,” said transport secretary Grant Shapps.
Because the UK is leaving the EU single market and customs union next year, customs controls will have to be imposed – regardless of whether or not the UK/EU talks produce a trade deal. This has caused concern within the pharmaceutical industry and other sectors over the prospect of severe delays at the Channel ports caused by new border checks. The government itself has admitted that queues of up to 7,000 trucks could choke the roads in Kent that lead to the ports of Dover and Folkestone.
In summer the Department of Health and Social Care wrote to suppliers saying plans needed to be put in place to deal with all scenarios, including rerouting medical supplies away from the Channel ports “as a matter of priority.” It said the “reasonable worst case scenario” was a risk of “significant disruption across the short straits for six months” after the end of the transition period. (Also see "Brexit: Medicine Supplies Face ‘Significant Disruption’ At Ports" - Pink Sheet, 20 Aug, 2020.)
The government had previously negotiated alternative freight capacity with ferry companies, in advance of a possible “no-deal Brexit,” and had drawn up a shortlist of experienced freight operators under the Freight Capacity Framework.
The new contracts, which were awarded under this framework, focus on nine routes serving eight ports in those areas less likely to experience disruption: Felixstowe, Harwich, Hull, Newhaven, Poole, Portsmouth, Teesport and Tilbury. Should the contracts not be required, termination costs “would reflect a fraction of the full contract amount,” the government said.
The government added that the routes out of Dover and Folkestone across the short straits remained "a vital corridor for trade between the UK and mainland Europe. These routes have played a key role this year in maintaining the flow of critical goods into the country throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The government continues to work with key local stakeholders and industry to prepare for the end of the transition period.”
The work under way includes the purchase of land by the government for the construction of huge lorry parks and a “Kent access permit” that will have to be obtained by drivers of vehicles heading for a ferry or a Eurotunnel train.
"We await further information about booking arrangements and how this will work in practice” – Richard Torbett, ABPI chief executive
The pharma industry gave the contracts a cautious welcome but said that much would depend on the practical arrangements for using the additional freight capacity.
“Pharmaceutical companies have been doing everything in their power to prepare for the end of the transition period amidst this global pandemic,” said Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. “That includes getting to grips with the new border arrangements, planning alternative supply routes and increasing stocks where possible.”
Confirmation that the government has again made additional freight capacity available “can help support these plans,” Torbett said, adding that “we await further information about booking arrangements and how this will work in practice.”
He also voiced concern that the ending of the transition period without a negotiated deal in place would be “extremely challenging for companies.” Reaching a deal, including an agreement on medicines, “is in the best interest of patients across Europe,” he remarked.