News / 'A handful of customs clerks is not enough to prevent post-Brexit traffic chaos'

© Mariusz Burcz

The UK government has “seriously underestimated” the operability of post-Brexit customs, with the long-term effects being compared to “self-imposed sanctions”.

Forwarder John Shirley said there was a chronic level of understaffing in customs clerk roles, which he did not believe would become clear until the transition period ends on 31 December, he wrote on University College London’s Europe Blog.

“Just a minority of forwarders retain customs clerks in the EU, all of whom need several years of training,” said Mr Shirley.

“The only ...