Possible Felixstowe strike : 21 - 29 August 2022
15 Aug 2022
Following the announcement of the proposed strike action at Felixstowe on 21-29 August, FPC have proactively engaged with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to ensure that there will be minimal disruption to plant health inspections or Horticultural Marketing inspections during this period.
APHA have issued the following statement that outlines their proposed response. Members are reminded to ensure that all consignments are declared in line with statutory requirements to avoid any further delays.
Please advise FPC if you experience any issues.
Statement summary:
Animal and Plant Health Agency Asiantaeth Iechyd Anifeiliaid a Phlanhigion Imports Operational
delivery
Re: Possible Felixstowe Industrial action 21st-29th August
Following your email to Kelvin Hughes, please see below the message which APHA has published to the
trade on our various platforms.
“In the event of an industrial dispute at any port where Plant Health Regulated Goods are
inspected, (such as the proposed one at Felixstowe, 21-29th August) APHA staff will continue to be
available to inspect consignments as normal. Any additional consignments which may be rerouted to
other ports will be assessed by APHA as usual. Additional staff and operating hours will be under
constant review to ensure the maintenance of published Service level agreements for the import
inspections of Plant Health regulated goods. To avoid delays, please ensure all consignments are
declared in line with statutory requirements”
I will be monitoring application levels at other ports to assess whether we need to change our
resource levels. At the moment I can confident we have sufficient resource in place to facilitate
any movements in the trade away from Felixstowe in the short term.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or updates. Yours sincerely,
Tracy Wilson MBE
Plant Health Imports Field Delivery Manager