![\"Fulop](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/e72877ae-d3a4-4f79-9402-6c74d6471fd8.jpg\")
Fulop Illes: \u2018It\u2019s just a huge extra expense for nothing\u2019 \u00a9 Andrew Fox\/FT<\/p>\nCustoms agents and businesses have complained to the UK government that they have been charged for checks on goods that never took place, after post-Brexit controls on food and plant imports from the EU were imposed on British importers. <\/p>\n
In an online meeting on Tuesday with officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), dozens of disgruntled agents highlighted errors with the new system that one called \u201cchaotic\u201d.<\/p>\n
In one case, a consignment could not be unloaded at a government-run border inspection facility at Sevington in Kent because of a design flaw in the inspection bay \u2014 yet the shipment owner was still charged for the inspection \u2014 the officials were told in the meeting. <\/p>\n
Others said they paid for physical checks only to have their shipments cleared by a computer system, according to two people who dialled into the meeting. <\/p>\n
From April a new charge was levied on anyone importing food or plants through Dover and the Eurotunnel in Folkestone, in order to recoup the costs of running the government\u2019s Sevington border control post which inspects the imports. <\/p>\n
Trade groups report that bills for the \u201cCommon User Charge\u201d have already run into tens of thousands of pounds for some smaller businesses.<\/p>\n
The added costs have prompted calls on the UK\u2019s new Labour government to expedite a \u201cveterinary deal\u201d with Brussels that could reduce or remove the need for inspections and paperwork on most plant and animal exports. Talks are currently due to begin next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
William Bain, the head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said a deal was essential to prevent higher costs being passed on to consumers through higher prices. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe would urge the government to work with business to find ways to mitigate this impact,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
During this week\u2019s online meeting, Steve Habbershaw, a customs agent in Dover, asked why he had been charged when most of his consignments had been automatically cleared without checks. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe border situation at Sevington currently is rather chaotic,\u201d he told officials, before asking whether revenue from the charge will \u201cbe spent to improve this\u201d. <\/p>\n
Additionally, a contingency feature that clears goods after two hours to avoid queues at ports left many businesses frustrated that they paid for checks that never took place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trade groups have warned of higher food prices and squeezed margins for importers as a result of the charges on all agrifoods consignments entering through Dover and the Eurotunnel. The charges were introduced on April 30, with the first payments taken last month. <\/p>\n
Fulop Illes: \u2018It\u2019s just a huge extra expense for nothing\u2019 \u00a9 Andrew Fox\/FT<\/p>\n
One UK business, HunPro, a speciality importer of Hungarian foods, told the Financial Times it had to increase its staffing by 20 per cent just to deal with the paperwork from the new checks. <\/p>\n
The company, which employs 20 people, took on four more people and said it had incurred a total of \u00a38,000 in extra charges since the border was introduced. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a huge extra expense for nothing,\u201d said managing director Fulop Illes. <\/p>\n
Richard Catt, of the Freight Liaison Group, said that pressure of the additional charges on small businesses was \u201cdifficult to swallow\u201d, particularly given that the government was only carrying out the lowest possible number of checks on goods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sally Cullimore, policy director of the Horticultural Trades Association, which represents the UK\u2019s plant nursery industry, said one small business member had received a bill for \u00a327,000 for the first three months of border checks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat represents around 7 per cent of this company\u2019s profits, which is significant when you consider this is an entirely new cost that delivers little or no benefit to the business,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Food](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/634780cc-027d-49bf-8cd0-aa4a3a4e618b.jpg\")
German Deli has been hit with additional charges \u00a9 Charlie Bibby\/FT<\/p>\n![\"Trucks](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/9274db59-b1a9-43ac-ae4c-ef8f8166fcce.jpg\")
Trucks line up at Sevington \u00a9 Charlie Bibby\/FT<\/p>\n