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Ham fisted Brexit

(96 Posts)
GagaJo Mon 11-Jan-21 17:11:48

Dutch TV news has aired footage of customs officers confiscating ham sandwiches from drivers arriving by ferry from the UK under post-Brexit rules banning personal imports of meat and dairy products into the EU.

Officials wearing high-visibility jackets are shown explaining to startled car and lorry drivers at the Hook of Holland ferry terminal that since Brexit, “you are no longer allowed to bring certain foods to Europe, like meat, fruit, vegetables, fish, that kind of stuff.”

To a bemused driver with several sandwiches wrapped in tin foil who asked if he could maybe surrender the meat and keep just the bread, one customs officer replied: “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry.”

www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/11/dutch-officials-seize-ham-sandwiches-from-british-drivers

Alexa Tue 12-Jan-21 12:26:55

It is frightening how people who make £££££ £££s from Brexit have persuaded some les well off people Brexit was a GOOD THING

prestbury Tue 12-Jan-21 11:26:34

And let's not mention the importation into the UK of Dutch Elm disease grin

Jaberwok Tue 12-Jan-21 10:14:26

I voted leave and would do so again, but I think it's a good thing that certain foods and other goods are not allowed into other countries. Perhaps the rules have been far too lax in the past and need tightening up both sides of the channel . As has been said Australia in particular are extremely strict as to what can and can't be brought in from overseas as are many countries which frankly is a good thing. Buy your foodstuffs on the ferry or when you arrive the other side.

Callistemon Tue 12-Jan-21 09:35:17

Meat products can’t be be taken into America, Australia, New Zealand and a mountain of other countries
Including the UK
And yes, the ham may well have been from the EU.
I think I would have eaten the sandwich there and then.

maddyone Tue 12-Jan-21 09:02:35

To be honest it’s all a storm in a teacup. Who cares if ham sandwiches can’t be taken into an EU country? Meat products can’t be be taken into America, Australia, New Zealand and a mountain of other countries. It’s not a big deal. Buy a sandwich when you’re in. What a fuss over nothing. The irony could be that the ham could have easily been from Holland originally.

Calendargirl Tue 12-Jan-21 07:29:23

It will be a pain not bringing garden stuff that we can’t get here

What sort of stuff? Another source of possible contamination coming in. Seeds, plants and suchlike might harbour insects or pests.

Mamie Tue 12-Jan-21 04:56:18

Likewise MaizieD I shall miss being able to bring British cheeses home with me. We will have to finish the pork pies in the car park at Portsmouth. ? It will be a pain not bringing garden stuff that we can't get here, as we have done that quite a lot up to now. DH has had his last batch of heritage seeds from Garden Organic. None of it is terrible, but combined with all the extra admin stuff we have to do it is just such a shame.
We can well remember when all the rules used to be like that, why would anyone want to go backwards?

Chewbacca Tue 12-Jan-21 00:19:14

Thanks Spice101; I quite agree with you 're Australia's strict rules being the reason it's kept diseases and pests being brought in. It's makes sense, especially in countries that rely on their agriculture.

mokryna Mon 11-Jan-21 23:46:48

A foot and mouth outbreak in the UK was once started because illegally imported food got into animal feed. Countries have to protect their boarders.
There have been several outbreaks of avian flu in France recently, the UK could ban imports.
I even had a problem once taking oranges from one US state to another, they were thrown on the heap.

Customs rejected my DD’s vacuum cleaner, and threw it out, when she immigrated to Australia, on the grounds it had some dust inside.

MawBe Mon 11-Jan-21 23:37:50

PippaZ

MawBe

Interesting that is is not U.K. Customs officials.
If this is the best petty EU bureaucracy can come up with I might be glad we have dissociated ourselves from them.

Why is it petty? As has been said Australia is very hot on what you can and can't take in. If this is the general rule for third countries why should we expect to be special? We decided not to be.

Is this really the only argument leave voters can come up with as a good reason for us leaving?

To a bemused driver with several sandwiches wrapped in tin foil who asked if he could maybe surrender the meat and keep just the bread, one customs officer replied: “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry

I stand by calling that Dutch jobsworth’s response petty
And I was not a Leave voter, but some of the actions of EU countries recently do suggest a level of pettifogging spite and Schadenfreude.

Spice101 Mon 11-Jan-21 23:35:45

....but that which IS not................

Spice101 Mon 11-Jan-21 23:33:06

Chewbacca

You can't take any food stuffs at all into Australia, they confiscate all of it and fine you if you do it again. When crossing borders, you need to educate yourself on what you can and cannot do, ignorance of the rules is no excuse.

That is not strictly true. You need to declare any food you have and much of it will be allowed but that which not because it is seen as a potential danger to our agricultural sector will be confiscated.

Personally I can live with that as it is how we keep many pests and diseases common throughout the world out of Australia.

MaizieD Mon 11-Jan-21 23:25:34

On a different query, I wonder how they can instantly find ham sandwiches, but not locate illegal immigrants?

They're going in different directions, Molly. customs are bothered with what is coming in, not what's going out.

I won't start an argument about asylum seekers not being 'illegal immigrants', though tempted. It's too late at night..

Luckygirl Mon 11-Jan-21 23:24:50

Next time they must remember to gobble down their sandwich whilst on British soil.

Mollygo Mon 11-Jan-21 23:06:23

There were signs in the airport in Italy as long ago as 2013 about not taking dairy or certain other foods from Italy into other countries and as chewbacca already said, many foods are not allowed into Australia and even those that are must be declared to avoid a fine.
It must have been a shock, but they won’t make the same mistake again.
On a different query, I wonder how they can instantly find ham sandwiches, but not locate illegal immigrants?

PippaZ Mon 11-Jan-21 23:04:18

MawBe

Interesting that is is not U.K. Customs officials.
If this is the best petty EU bureaucracy can come up with I might be glad we have dissociated ourselves from them.

Why is it petty? As has been said Australia is very hot on what you can and can't take in. If this is the general rule for third countries why should we expect to be special? We decided not to be.

Is this really the only argument leave voters can come up with as a good reason for us leaving?

Callistemon Mon 11-Jan-21 22:59:17

Chewbacca

You can't take any food stuffs at all into Australia, they confiscate all of it and fine you if you do it again. When crossing borders, you need to educate yourself on what you can and cannot do, ignorance of the rules is no excuse.

You can't take fruit in, honey or even take bananas from one state to another but you can take in tea bags, chocolate bars and of course Marmite (although you can buy Marmite in Australia now).

You can't bring meat or meat products honey, eggs or dairy products into the UK from most countries Or caviar.
Presumably you can't bring them in from the EU either now.

Callistemon Mon 11-Jan-21 22:51:45

I wonder if it was Danish ham?

"Just returning it to the EU, sir"!

MaizieD Mon 11-Jan-21 22:33:43

I don't know why people are getting at all bothered by this.

You eat on the ferry then you stop at a shop on the other side and get stocked up with some nice continental food. You can usually even buy sandwiches on the ferry, no need at all to nip into Waitrose on the way.

I think it's amusing.

Though it will be a shame if we can't bring some nice French cheeses back to the UK.

EllanVannin Mon 11-Jan-21 22:03:19

Ooops, I wrote about the ham sandwich in the customs thread---apologies. I thought it was funny.

Urmstongran Mon 11-Jan-21 22:00:01

No, let’s not vegansrock. It’s just the new way. We will get up to speed soon enough.

vegansrock Mon 11-Jan-21 21:33:42

Let’s pretend it’s a huge benefit.

vegansrock Mon 11-Jan-21 21:32:58

We are definitely becoming a “ third world country” urmstongran.
Yes it’s a petty issue since it hasn’t been any problem for years, But hey that’s what some people voted for.

GagaJo Mon 11-Jan-21 21:25:11

Urmstongran

Your thread title was good though GagaJo it made me laugh!
?

Thank you Urmstongran. I thought the topic was nonsensical too.

My bloke once smuggled haggis into China. Bloody idiot. If he'd got caught... We had it for Christmas lunch.

MawBe Mon 11-Jan-21 20:13:15

It annoys people?

Don’t need Brexit to do that hmmhmm