Pharma shipments hit by Calais migrant activity

Migrants stowing away on trucks heading to the UK at the port of Calais are wreaking havoc with shipments of pharmaceuticals and other products such as food, reports BSi.

A number of haulage companies have reported that once it has been established that migrants have gained access to sensitive shipments such as medicines, they are denied entry, impounded or sent back to the shipper.

The situation has been exacerbated by strikes by French ferry workers which have delayed shipments, and raised the risk that shipments will become compromised.

"The number of migrants camped near Calais has swelled to nearly 3,000 as well, increasing the risk of stowaway introduction into legitimate cargo shipments," says BSi.

In one case - reported by the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Coalition (PCSC) - a shipment of drugs worth £2.5m ($3.9m) has been destroyed following contamination in-transit through Calais.

In addition, an Irish shipper reported that a €250,000 ($279,000) shipment of pharmaceuticals was impounded following the discovery of stowaways in the load.

A BSi special report notes that the daily cost of delays is $1.2m to UK shippers and $545,000 to shippers based in the Netherlands. The crisis has cost the UK economy an estimated $1bn, it notes.