Built over the past 18 months at a cost of £25m (shared by the taxpayer and the port’s owner, Portsmouth city council) the highspecification facility should have started handling post-Brexit checks on imports of animal, plant and forestry products from the EU.
But the building stands empty and silent following the government’s April decision to delay, probably for good, the introduction of physical inspections on fresh meat, fruit, vegetables and plants from the EU.
The facility was completed ahead of the government’s previous, and much delayed , start date of 1 July for the new border measures. The government is now working on a new operating model for imports – due to come into effect at the end of 2023 – following the announcement by the Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob ReesMogg, at the end of April that all checks and paperwork at the border would be digitised.
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