LONDON – The customs officer does not take long to find the contraband hidden inside the car that just stopped. They are not weapons, drugs or people smuggled across the border – but a ham sandwich wrapped in foil.
“Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry!” The cheerful Dutch border officer says with a laugh as he confiscates the illicit snack.
The footage broadcast by the Dutch TV network NPO 1 may seem like a scam. But the official was only acting according to the new rules that came into force after the post-Brexit UK stopped using European Union regulations on January 1.
Before Brexit, the United Kingdom was part of the EU’s “single market” that allows people, goods, services and money to travel freely across the continent with little or no checks.
In December, the two sides reached a new trade agreement to replace the old partnership, which came into force earlier this year. Since then, businesses and travelers have awakened to the reality that the new system has the potential for serious disruptions.
The video driver traveled from the UK to the Netherlands – which is still one of the 27 EU member countries.
The driver seemed surprised to have his lunch seized – “Can’t I just take the meat and leave the bread?” he asked incredulously – but the new rules are clear. The British government’s guidance warns people who cannot carry in their personal luggage “animal products, such as those containing meat or dairy products”, for example, “a ham and cheese sandwich”.
That’s because the EU fears that anything imported from the UK – which now follows different regulations – could “pose a real threat to animal health”.
This is not an isolated incident. The Dutch customs agency posted a photo on Facebook showing a pile of food, including a box of orange juice, cereal and a box of oranges, which was confiscated from drivers arriving at the ferry port in Hook, the Netherlands.
But while travelers who have their lunches seized can be irritating, the real impacts of Brexit are being felt by companies.
In the long run, the Office for Budget Responsibility, a government agency, says the deal negotiated by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to weaken the British economy by 4 percent compared to if it had remained in the EU
Companies are already saying that the confusion caused by new border controls has caused delays and products not reaching their destination. Scottish salmon producer John Ross Jr wrote in an open letter that “it looks like our own government threw us into the cold Atlantic waters without a life jacket”.
Brexit has also caused upheaval within the UK itself. The extra paperwork meant delays and empty supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, but is treated differently in terms of trade under the new post-Brexit agreement.
Some British online retailers have said that they can no longer ship products to Northern Ireland – although they are all part of the same country.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove told Sky News last week that “significant additional disruptions” are expected in the coming weeks and that the government needed to “redouble our efforts to communicate the precise paperwork that is needed”.
