News / 'Partial win' for UK supply chains as EC delays potentially disruptive checks

Lorries queue at the port of Dover. Photo: © Ben Gingell |

Efforts at restoring EU-UK relations appear to have made some headway, the bloc agreeing to postpone new checks that threatened to “clog up the ports”.

Sources had warned that looming changes to the entry-exit system (EES), requiring every non-EU citizen to register biometric data, including fingerprints, at the border threatened to cause massive delays to supply chains, especially across the Channel.

After lobbying by French officials, the new EES rule has been postponed for at least a month, from 6 October to 10 November, with a “last resort” postponement on the table adding a further week.

Additionally, amendments to the scheme include what is being called a “relief valve”, which would excuse those waiting at crowded checkpoints from having to supply biometric data, a move expected to significantly reduce the likelihood of disruption.

A spokesperson for Logistics UK told The Loadstar: “The worry was, and remains, that passengers being forced to scan themselves would clog up the ports which would inevitably cause freight delays – so anything that streamlines the process of passengers is welcomed.”

The spokesperson added: “We’re classing this as a partial win, since although we have been asking for a delay, it’s not long enough to avoid significant disruption.”

The industry required time and support to develop “an app or web-based system to enable registration to take place away from the border”, said the spokesperson.

News of the change follows arrival in Brussels of the UK’s new EU relations minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, yesterday for talks with EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič, part of a push by the Labour government to bring the country closer to the world’s largest trading bloc.