” It’s incomprehensible ! The shipping company Brittany Ferries believes that there is unequal treatment with regard to border controls between Ouistreham (Calvados), where they are particularly drastic, and the ports of Hauts-de-France, Dunkirk and Calais.
“Since Brexit, our customers have been calling us constantly because their goods trucks have been blocked for several hours for border checks, including veterinary checks, in Ouistreham. Which never happens, at least on this scale, in northern ports. The checks, which are far from being systematic, only last a few minutes at worst. The differences in boarding times are considerable, without our being able to explain it”, protests Jean-Marc Roué, CEO of the company.
Differences which “will increase in the future”, admits the port of Ouistreham
Result: road professionals do not hesitate to change their habits and to abandon, at least temporarily, the port of Ouistreham. “These losses are impossible to quantify but they are real. The carriers tell us themselves that they have nothing against the controls but that they prefer to queue in Calais where, in any case, their boarding time will be less… These are as many customers as we are losing “, he continues.
A situation that the manager of the port of Ouistreham does not deny. The director of port equipment at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Caen-Ouistreham, Antoine de Gouville, explains: “There are two elements that can explain this situation. First of all, the ports of the North manage ten times more traffic with therefore incomparable logistics. In addition, it is the customs services that manage checks in Ouistreham, while this responsibility lies with the air and border police in Calais and Dunkirk. However, they do not have the same numbers or the same resources. And everything leads us to believe that these differences will increase in the future”.
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