News
The Port of Rotterdam Authority, the Municipality of Rotterdam, the Municipality of Vlaardingen and highways authority Rijkswaterstaat (Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), are creating five new buffer parking sites for 700 trucks. Trucks will be able to wait here temporarily if their customs documents have not been properly prepared for maritime crossings to the United Kingdom (UK), in the event of the country leaving the European Union on March 29, 2019.
The aim of the coordinated action is to minimize any extra delay resulting from additional customs formalities at ferry and shortsea terminals and to ensure freight traffic to the UK runs as smoothly as possible. After all, additional customs formalities are required for so-called third countries. Additionally, more intensive passport checks and inspections by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority could mean longer processing times at terminals.
Of the approximately 54 million tons of freight that is traded annually between the UK and the Netherlands, around 40 million tons passes through the port of Rotterdam, and in particular via ferry and shortsea crossings. As soon as Brexit is a fact, the Dutch sea ports will form an outer border between the EU and the UK and this will have major consequences, in particular for the processing of customs papers and passport control.
