The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has published an urgent letter from Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister warning that the imminent peak-season rollout of the EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) could trigger queues stretching miles through Kent unless ministers strike a temporary derogation with France. Bannister says the port’s £40 million post-Brexit infrastructure has still not achieved the throughput needed to cope with holiday traffic once every car passenger must leave the vehicle to give fingerprints and facial images. Trials during the May half-term, when volumes were a fraction of August levels, already forced the port to declare a “Critical Incident” within hours. Beyond gridlock for tourists, the port handles one-third of UK-EU trade. Delays would strand time-critical HGV loads of medicines, automotive parts and fresh food on the M20, with knock-on supply-chain costs for manufacturers and retailers nationwide. The Committee’s chair, Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, called on the Government to secure a pause or phased introduction of EES at juxtaposed controls in Dover, Folkestone and Eurostar terminals until technical problems are fixed and a remote pre-registration app is fully operational. For corporate mobility managers the alert is a stark reminder to adapt travel policies: schedule additional buffer time, consider alternative routes such as unaccompanied freight, and monitor driver-hours rules that could be breached by multi-hour border waits. HR teams moving staff between the UK and EU should warn assignees of possible last-minute itinerary changes and ensure contingency accommodation is budgeted.
