Every day more than 12,000 trucks cross the Channel to reach England, from Calais in Hauts-de-France.
As the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU stagnate, Customs are preparing for the worst and are therefore looking for solutions to check all vehicles.
REPORTAGE
The end of the Brexit negotiations is long overdue.
On Monday evening, negotiators between the European Union and the United Kingdom agreed to extend the talks, even if a deal seems increasingly unlikely.
In the meantime, in Calais, we are getting organized to avoid congestion at the port and the Channel tunnel when customs formalities are re-established.
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Every day, 12,000 heavy goods vehicles cross the Channel, in Calais, by the tunnel or by boat.
And if each truck has to be stopped at customs to check its cargo or documents, it will quickly be paralyzed.
To prevent this, customs, veterinary services, ferry companies and Eurotunnel have implemented a digital control system.
"A digital frontier"
This device is called the smart frontier.
Prior to their passage, carriers will have to declare their goods online.
During the crossing, the customs services will sort out the vehicles in order which will be able to continue their journey freely when getting off the boat and those which must be retained for administrative or health reasons.
“In reality, the border, as we imagine, where we have to go down with a bundle of papers to obtain visas from the various administrations present on site, it is an organization that has lived. The smart border could also be qualified as a digital border. It is a border where the essential is dematerialized. So there is a little gymnastics to acquire and new procedures ", explains Benoît Rocher, deputy director of the port of Calais.
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The challenge: that companies and road hauliers from all over Europe adapt to these new rules of customs formalities.
Otherwise, despite the reinforcements of customs and veterinary services, there is a risk of traffic jams at the ports of Dover and Calais.