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German fruit and vegetable traders warn of supply bottlenecks. The reason for this is the stricter controls on border traffic from high-risk areas. According to the German Fruit Trade Association (DFHV), they would make it difficult to import products from the main producing countries in southern Europe. The entry requirements for food transport drivers have been unnecessarily toughened, so the association director Andreas Brügger.
Until now, truck drivers transporting goods such as fruits and vegetables across borders were exempted from digital travel registration if proper hygiene requirements and protection concepts were observed. “Now the federal government is lifting this exemption for people who come from high-risk areas or areas where virus mutations have occurred,” Brugger said.
To guard against the introduction of new corona cases, the federal government upgraded significantly more countries to risk areas, a total of 32. Portugal and Spain are now also listed as particularly dangerous.
“Spain is currently one of the main supplier countries of fruit and vegetables with a participation of around 30 percent”, says the head of DFHV, Brügger. Drivers from specified high-risk areas such as Portugal and Spain have had to submit a negative Corona PCR test that takes no more than 72 hours when crossing the border on Sunday. In practice, this is unlikely.
Together with other associations, the federal government was informed at an early stage of the possible disadvantages of extensive registration, testing and verification obligations. According to Brugger “unfortunately without result”. However, you need a supply broker for fresh fruits and vegetables even in Corona times. “Otherwise, there is a risk that the retail shelves will be empty.”
Therefore, the fruit trade association calls for binding regulations across Europe and a return to the so-called Green Lanes Directive. This provides for border crossings within the EU with special lanes that allow freight vehicles to pass quickly.
