UK announces Covid tests for inbound hauliers

Hauliers arriving in England from outside the UK from 6 April onwards will need to take a COVID-19 test if they are staying for more than two days, the UK government has announced, as the country bids to limit the numbers of infections of potentially vaccine-resistant variations of the virus.

Following rumours for several days last week about the new planned scheme, the UK yesterday confirmed the initiative would begin next week, for drivers and crews of HGVs and vans and other light goods vehicles – both UK-based and non-UK hauliers. Drivers will need to take the first test within the first two days, then further tests every three days.

Robert Keen, director general of the British International Freight Association (BIFA), said freight forwarders are hoping that the introduction of a so-called ‘bespoke Covid testing regime’ for hauliers arriving in England from outside the UK from 6 April “doesn’t throw another spoke into the wheels of cross channel trade”, following months of other disruptions already. 

He commented: “Our members, which manage a significant proportion of the visible trade between the UK and the EU, have seen major disruptions to their operations for many months as a result of Covid, the changes to how import and export trade is conducted following the UK’s departure from the EU, as well macroeconomic issues affecting all modes of international freight transport.”

Earlier this month, when the UK government extended the deadlines of its post-Brexit Border Operating Model – claiming that it was due to Covid-related complications – BIFA said it was not surprised and “welcomed the news that government will engage extensively with businesses”.

Keen added: “Controlling the spread of new Covid variants is critical and we want the new bespoke Covid testing regime for hauliers to work, but not impede trade flows. We invite government and its relevant agencies to work closely with us and our members and learn from the mistakes of the past – when some political decisions were made that appeared to pay little regard to how visible international trade and the frontier actually works in practice.

“BIFA members are pinning their hopes that the bespoke Covid testing regime lives up to its billing and is ‘made-to-measure’, not ‘off-the-peg’. Creating more uncertainty will be of no use to anyone involved in managing the UK’s visible international trade.”

Measures must be proportional

Also responding to yesterday’s announcement that logistics drivers, air crews and rail workers are to be tested for COVID19 on their arrival to the UK from France, fellow freight transport association Logistics UK called for the measures to be proportional to the threat.

Sarah Laouadi, European Policy Manager at Logistics UK said: “It is vitally important to protect the UK and it’s highly interconnected supply chain from the threat of new Covid19 variants, and the nation as a whole. Rapid testing of drivers on arrival in the UK will provide additional confidence that businesses can be supplied safely. 

“However, it is worth remembering that drivers are, by the nature of their jobs and thanks to contactless delivery procedures, a very low risk category – as has been borne out by the testing carried out on drivers since the start of the pandemic where only 0.1% of them have tested positive for COVID-19.  Any testing regime must be proportionate and not discriminate against those who are tasked with keeping British businesses and consumers stocked with the goods and services they need.

“We would urge the government to maintain a watching brief on the testing regime to ensure it remains appropriate and reacts to the situation on the ground.”

£2,000 fines

Announcing the new regime yesterday, the UK government warned drivers that do not have proof of a negative COVID-19 test could be fined £2,000.

It said drivers do not need to take a test if they will be in England for two days or less, nor if they arrive in England from Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man – known as the Common Travel Area (CTA), if they have only been in the CTA or the UK in the 10 days before arrival.

The UK said free testing for hauliers is available at haulier advice sites around the country, noting: “You do not need to book a test in advance but you should check the list of sites to make sure they open and if they are likely to be busy.”

Those that take a test at a haulier advice site will be provided with a letter which states: the time and date of the test; the day of testing – for example, day 2, day 5 or day 8; some personal details, which can be used as evidence of undertaking the test.

Drivers can also use: workplace testing, if their company has bought the tests from an authorised test provider; community testing; home-based testing; and private testing – which they would need to pay for.

Further information can be found here.

As reported last week, various people have expressed concern about suggestions that travel to and from France may be banned to control the spread of a 'third wave' of COVID-19 coronavirus from mainland Europe despite the move creating a risk of “very serious disruption” to food and medicine supplies.

The Times reported that the UK government was considering adding France to its “red list”, severely limiting direct travel from the country, acknowledging that the move could severely interrupt cross-Channel trade, with particular threats posed to the flow of food and medicines to the UK. The South African and Brazilian variants, which are more resistant to vaccines, account for up to 40 per cent of cases in parts of France.

The newspaper was told last week that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was coming under pressure from England’s chief medical officer to implement tougher border controls. Ministers have added 35 countries to the red list, which bans direct travel and prevents foreign nationals who have been in the countries in the previous 10 days from entering the UK. Britons can enter the UK from red-list countries – travelling via a third nation – but have to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel. The measures affect South America, southern Africa and parts of the Middle East but have not applied to Europe since Portugal was removed from the list earlier this month.

'Balance to be struck'

Applying the measures to France would pose huge logistical difficulties because of the flow of trade via cross-Channel ferries and through the Channel Tunnel. Lorry drivers are likely to be exempt but will have to be tested when they enter the UK, it was reported.

The potential disruption to cross-Channel trade would raise fears of a repeat of the scenes around Christmas which saw backlogs of thousands of trucks on their way to the Port of Dover. This delay was also caused by concerns about the spread of variants of COVID-19, albeit at that time it was France which wanted to stop potential contamination from reaching its shores, although the situation was made worse by the imminent end of the Brexit transition period.

The threat of the UK adding France to the 'red list' was made just as France removed the remaining travel restrictions imposed on the UK. For the past three months, lorry drivers have been forced to register a negative COVID-19 test before crossing the Channel from the UK but will no longer need to do so, The Times noted. But tests will still be required for drivers to drive to Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.