LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s government is looking at several sites in southern England for sites to process post-Brexit checks on lorries ferrying goods to the European Union, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said on Monday.
The government is expected to need new infrastructure to process trucks ferrying goods across the Channel and those trading in the opposite direction after a transition period finishes at the end of this year.
Earlier, ministers called on businesses to get ready for the end of the year, saying that whether a free trade deal with the bloc is reached or not, Britain would be outside the EU’s single market and customs union so new procedures would take force.
“It is not the case that any specific site has been absolutely confirmed. We’re in commercial negotiations with a number of sites, and as and when they are confirmed, I will let him know,” Gove told parliament after one lawmaker representing a part of the Kent region asked about reports of a lorry park.
“Some of the infrastructure will be temporary, some will be permanent,” he added.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Alistair Smout; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
