King's Lynn company Lynn Shellfish had produce held up at border for five days
Lynn Shellish found thousands of kilograms of produce was held up at the border for five days last week, due to tighter regulations post Brexit.
Since the beginning of January, all foodstuffs need a certificate stamped by the local authority, but the firm said customs officers in Holland refused to recognise the one from Norfolk.
Following that another lorry was held for 24 hours this week due to a paperwork issue.
Abbi Williamson, of the company based at Alexandra Dock in Lynn, said concerns over paperwork and extra incurring costs have caused the business considerable stress.
She said: “We’ve always had a great relationship with the Dutch company we ship to, and now we are experiencing delays that affect us, those we supply and our drivers.”
Prior to Brexit no paperwork was needed to ship product abroad, the company had to be approved and the vessels officially registered.
Now companies like Lynn Shellfish need an export health certificate in order to transport their good abroad and the ‘lack of consistency’ is causing the process to be disorganised.
Ms Williamson said: “They say it’s teething problems but that doesn’t re-assure us at all.
“We’ve had to pay extra for the lorries sitting there.
“Luckily we decided to send frozen product instead of fresh or we would have had to pay for the cost of wastage as well.
“It’s a concern for summer as we have more lorries and the product is usually fresh at that time.
“The Government has said they will subsidise us but we haven’t received any news on how to make a claim.”
It’s not only the economic welfare of the company that Ms Williamson is concerned with as she said she feels sorry on behalf of the drivers who are sitting in their vehicles for hours.
“There will be drivers sitting there on their own and we are worried if they are alright.”
Lynn Shellfish sent a lorry yesterday to Holland and are hopeful that the driver will have an easy passage to reach his destination.
Ms Williamson added: “We are so grateful to the council who have been brilliant with helping us.”
