The government has launched an urgent consultation to take powers to require hauliers proceeding to Port of Dover and Eurotunnel before entering Kent to be in possession of evidence of a negative Covid test. 

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport has been asked to contact its member to consider the consultation and let the government know if you have any comments. The Institute will be responding centrally in support of government objectives, but we also want to bring these consultations to the attention of our members who may wish to respond independently.

Given the urgency of the consultation, the government is seeking responses by close of play on Thursday 14th January. 

The overall policy model is akin to the Kent Access Permit, but the intention would be the legislate for a separate requirement showing evidence of a negative Covid test. If the government does proceed with its proposals, the approach would be to amend one of the Operation Brock Statutory Instruments. 

Note that the taking of the power on this would not mean it was automatically activated. That would be a separate decision for the Secretary of State, and in deciding whether it was necessary to implement the requirement he would of course have regard in particular to progress with the ‘upstreaming’ of testing without recourse to such a step. 

As things stand the UK is seeing around 40% of hauliers get tested ‘upstream’ – which is good progress from the start of the year, but a proportion we wish to see grow substantially.

In parallel, DEFRA has been developing proposals for an Expedited Return Scheme which would make it possible to prioritise vehicles critical to food supply chains pass queues in Kent in the event of severe cross-channel disruption. 

That is subject to a separate urgent consultation that DEFRA has launched, with a similarly tight deadline for responses. 

Both sets of proposals would entail amendment of the same Operation Brock statutory instrument, so the two measures could be put in place by a single amendment to those Regulations.