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France

UK and France ease COVID test demands on truck drivers

cde.news desk · 1 min read
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epa08988743 Truck drivers disembark from a ferry boat at the port of Cherbourg, Normandy region, France, 04 February 2021 (issued 05 February 2021). Brexit has triggered the direct transport of trucks between Ireland and France, trying to avoid the long bureaucratic procedures involved in entering and leaving British soil. The French city of Cherbourg saw in January 2021 the traffic of trucks leaving or entering on board ferries to Ireland tripled compared to the same month of 2020 (9,000 compared to 3,000), according to General Manager of Cherbourg Harbour Yannick Millet. Typically some 150,000 trucks use the so-called 'land bridge' each year to cross from Ireland to the mainland via the UK, said president of the West Normandy Chamber of Commerce for Industry Dominique Louzeau, and Cherbourg could capture around 20-25 percent of that volume, in addition to its regular traffic, among the carriers seeking to avoid stricter customs and sanitary controls. There are currently 15 weekly heavy vehicle ferry frequencies between Cherbourg and Ireland (the ports of Rosselare and Dublin), up from six in December 2020. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Lorry drivers returning to France from Britain will not now need to have a coronavirus test if they have spent less than 48 hours in the country, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sunday.

France demanded in December that lorry drivers travelling from Britain to France must carry a negative COVID test result to reduce the spread of a more infectious coronavirus variant that had been found in Kent in southeast England.

“I’ve agreed more flexibility in testing for hauliers travelling from the UK to France,” Shapps said on Twitter.

“From 11 p.m. (2300 GMT) tonight, lorries returning to France from UK having spent less than 48 hours in the UK will no longer require a coronavirus test.”

(Reporting by Kate Holton Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Filed under CoronavirusFranceUK
Topics CoronavirusLogisticsTrucksUK

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