The £13m facility has been hailed as being ‘state of the art’ (Image: NELICNS)
The UK has beefed up its with a new £13 million “state of the art” facility on Britain’s busiest shipping estuary.
A new Border Control Post (BCP) was recently opened at the Port of Immingham, at the mouth of the River Humber, near Grimsby and Hull.
The facility’s main role will be to check incoming and outgoing cargo – to ensure people’s safety and the
The BCP will be home to and the UK’s Animal Plant Health Authority (APHA), who inspect plant and plant products.
will also be based at the facility – checking cargo for illegal products such as guns or drugs, as well as smuggled goods trying to avoid customs duties.
The new BCP will be used for biosecurity checks (Image: Getty)
John Clements-Pearce, The Port Health Team’s Export Team Leader, said: “The new facility is much better than our previous BCP. The is far more impressive and reliable which allows us to do our job much more efficiently.
“We have so many products that come through the BCP. People don’t always understand the volume of food or the s we carry out. A lot of work goes into getting these consignments from one place to the other.
“It’s not just about the physical checks though, we also spend a lot of our time checking the documents that come with the cargo. Since May 1st, we have checked over 17,000 documents which equates to just over 800 a week.”
Inside the new BCP (Image: Getty)
The new BCP is owned and managed by the UK’s largest port operator, (ABP). It will inspect a variety of food and feed products from countries all over the world.
Back in 2021, Conservative Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers welcomed government funding of more than £200 million to increase security and boost checks at ports around the UK. He said the Immingham post would cost £13 million,
the “state of the art” facility would keep the Humberside region “at the forefront of trade with Europe”. It said the BCP was ” built to exacting specifications set out by Government border agencies” and it was “fully equipped to handle a huge range of products”.
The centre is a huge improvement. say the officials based there (Image: Getty)
Immingham is by far the busiest port in the country In terms of fishery product tonnage, Much of this imported fish is heading towards cold stores, factories and wholesalers in
However, the port is also an important route of entry for a huge range of meat, dairy and egg products. The UK has needed to introduce additional import checks on EU origin cargo as well as that from the rest of the world, because free movement of goods between the UK and the EU has now ended, following and the UK’s exit from the EU.
All relevant imports from the EU are now subjected to documentation checks. A smaller proportion are diverted to the new BCP for identity and physical checks.
Vital checks are carried out at the post (Image: Getty)
Products meant for human or animal consumption are subject to rigorous testing.
These items, coming from all over the world including China, Vietnam, Canada and the , can include fresh pork or poultry, cured or frozen meat products, farmed or wild-caught fish products, dried meal, pellets and other animal feedstuffs.
Consignment rejected by the BCP’s Port Health team can be sent it back to the country of origin, or the owner can pay for the product to be destroyed.
Alternatively, the owner can apply for its use to be altered – such as changing from human to animal consumption.