Staff and facilities are in place ready for the opening of the Border Control Posts  on the Humber operated by Associated British Ports  to keep the region at the forefront of trade with Europe.

The BCPs in Immingham and Hull, serving both banks of the Humber, have been built to exacting specifications set out by Government border agencies and are fully equipped to handle a huge range of products. Having successfully completed the pre-opening test exercises done by Government agencies the BCPs are ready to go.

The team operating the BCPs, headed by Kerry Costello, Project Lead, has been putting the processes together in readiness for the end of the month opening when new Government requirements come into force for the biosecurity of trade with Europe. The Assistant Operations managers involved in running daily operations and managing the various inspection agencies and government bodies who will be working the units, have all come from within ABP.

Kerry, who previously worked within the Humber’s safety team, has a background in setting up new operations and has relished the challenge to get the two buildings off the ground and operational.

Simon Bird, Regional Director of the Humber ports, said: “We have worked very hard and committed millions of pounds of investment to deliver these two new state of the art border check posts. The Humber is a critical gateway to European and global markets – the UK’s largest by volume – and we’ve put the right resources in to manage them and provide customers with the options they need.”

Kerry and her team haven’t been daunted by the high-profile nature of the BCPs and the difficulties of delivering high quality port operations in a complex government led context. They’ve rolled their sleeves up and taken the challenge on.”

Kerry added: “My predecessor did a great job to get them to where we were at the start of the year and my team have picked up and completed the tasks in hand. Each relishing the challenge and bringing their ideas to the table in the process.

“The level of communication between ABP and North East Lincolnshire Council Port Health and Hull and Goole Port Health Authority has been phenomenal. We’ve built up good relationships with the other regulatory bodies and ensured that communication has been clear.

“We’ve run some live tests with Cabinet Office, Port Health Authority, and shipping lines which have all gone well so as to ensure systems and infrastructure all communicate behind the scenes.”

The Border Control Posts at Immingham and Hull ports have been approved in line with GB legislation for carrying out checks on animals, animal products (meat, seafood, dairy), plants and plant products arriving through the ports. Border Force will also have a presence at both sites for custom checks and procedures.

There are 17 bays in Immingham and seven in Hull and allow checks to be carried out in a safe and controlled environment.

Consignments will be checked by the relevant port health or government bodies to make sure consignments meet approved standards.