Pasta, pies and paperwork errors: the reality of Brexit food checks

A minor date error on a health certificate left three boxes of cannelloni stranded for inspection at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais, delaying a truck carrying food from England to Gibraltar. The incident illustrates how post-Brexit checks and paperwork can hold up perishable goods, even when the mistake is small, and comes as the UK and EU prepare a deal intended to make food trade easier.

The driver said he had already waited nine hours before restarting a 24-hour journey. Officials also described meat being removed and destroyed after pig carcasses fell from their hooks, creating a contamination risk. A Defra report found small and medium-sized businesses were worst affected by checks; the planned sanitary and phytosanitary deal may not take effect until January 2028, and customs declarations will remain. Getlink says trade in both directions has fallen by just over 20% since Brexit and that it invested €60m (£50m) in border infrastructure.