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12 Mar 2019 / Rotterdam, Netherlands

Coordinated action to mitigate the effect of a hard Brexit

The Port of Rotterdam Authority, the Municipality of Rotterdam, the Municipality of Vlaardingen and highways authority Rijkswaterstaat (Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), are creating five new buffer parking sites. Trucks will be able to wait here temporarily if their customs documents have not been properly prepared for maritime crossings to the United Kingdom (UK), in the event of the country leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019.

The aim of the coordinated action is to minimise any extra delay resulting from additional customs formalities at ferry and shortsea terminals and to ensure freight traffic to the UK runs as smoothly as possible... …Additionally, more intensive passport checks and inspections by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority could mean longer processing times at terminals…

…Of the approximately 54 million tonnes of freight that is traded annually between the UK and the Netherlands, around 40 million tonnes passes through the port of Rotterdam, and in particular via ferry and shortsea crossings. As soon as Brexit is a fact, the Dutch sea ports will form an outer border between the EU and the UK and this will have major consequences, in particular for the processing of customs papers and passport control.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority and the ferry terminals in Rotterdam jointly arranged for a simulation study to be conducted into the effects of Brexit on the processing of freight traffic at and on the approach to the terminals… …The results of this simulation study have allowed a substantiated estimate of the required number of temporary buffer parking places for heavy goods vehicles to be made. The figures mean the authorities can expect that the 700 additional spaces provided at buffer parking sites will be sufficient...

…The Port Authority, the Municipality of Rotterdam and Rijkswaterstaat are advising exporters, hauliers and shippers to use Portbase to provide digital notification of their cargo that is destined for the UK. Using this Dutch supply chain solution for Brexit, cargo can pass quickly and without unnecessary delay through customs to and from the UK, even after Brexit.

(For information about operations in the Rotterdam, contact GAC Netherlands at [email protected])

Source: Extracts from Port of Rotterdam press release dated 11 March 2019 – see full release at https://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/news-and-press-releases/coordinated-action-to-mitigate-the-effect-of-a-hard-brexit-around-the-port

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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