The strange situation arose when Jobworth officials in Dublin did not allow the M&S truck to enter Northern Ireland even though all the papers were correct. Determined to find mistakes, they then asked if the driver had any documents for a sandwich that was sitting in the cabin he’d bought for his lunch.
When he didn’t show it, the truck was banned from crossing the border, according to Archie Norman, chairman of Marks and Spencer.
In an interview with the Telegraph, he accused the EU customs union rules of “coming from a bygone era when the system was intentionally protectionist and the technology was primitive”.
When the UK officially left the block in January, it created huge problems – especially with perishable products that rely on a modern, fast-paced system to get to shelves on time.
Speaking to columnist Charles Moore, Norman said the EU was “just stupid or mischievous or both”.
READ MORE: Stör Ready To Deliver “Brexit Repayment” For EU
“There are comparable problems with garden plants and trees, medicines and pets.”
The information was released after Mr Norman warned that M&S was already cutting Christmas products in Northern Ireland amid concerns about upcoming post-Brexit customs controls.
Mr Norman told the BBC that the current “pointless” controls with the Republic of Ireland “threaten” its business.
He called for “common sense in enforcement”.
“This Christmas, I can tell you, we have to make decisions to remove products for Northern Ireland because it’s just not worth the risk to get through,” he said.
“We have already made this decision.
“We’ll wait and see how serious it gets, but if it’s something like Southern Ireland (the Republic of Ireland) and it is going to be like that right now, then it will be very, very serious for customers.”
In a letter to the Brexit Minister Lord Frost, Norman said that the current EU customs regulations are “completely unsuitable and never designed for a modern supply chain for fresh food between closely linked trading partners”.
The government said Mr Norman’s letter was a “strong warning” of “the fundamental problems with the protocol”.
“Therefore, we urgently need to address these issues to ensure that the lives of the people of Northern Ireland are affected as little as possible, as the Protocol itself provides,” it added.
Earlier this week, Lord Frost announced that he would announce plans to lift most of the controls on the island of Ireland.
He called for the protocol to be renegotiated – something the EU has rejected.
–
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/655c1f8e-ec6b-11eb-a5f2-02d2fb1aa1d7.jpg "Private detectives tell their story: ‘Without realizing it, people kiss where you can see them best’ | Abroad")